DIARY OF A MAD SPORTSWRITER

The Columbia baseball team rallied for four runs with two outs in it’s final at-bat Wednesday afternoon on the road at Shenendehowa to earn an 8-5 Suburban Council win on a pinch-hit two-run single by Mike Luther.
Down, 5-4 in the seventh inning the Blue Devils (8-2) Jonas Godell reached after being hit by a pitch from left-handed Plainsmen reliever Colin Grande. The Shen reliever recovered and delivered the second out, covering first base and was one out away from the save.
Ian Castle and Tim Gaule both walked, setting up Columbia skipper Chris Dedrick’s big move, sending up Luther to pinch hit for left-handed batter Tyler Casavant, who then delivered the game-winning two-run single to right, putting the Blue Devils up 6-5.
“I think there is a big advantage having a righty hit on a lefty (pitcher) and Casavant is an excellent batter, but has been struggling his last couple at-bats against lefties,” Dedrick said. “He (Luther) was our starting DH for a while, batting fourth the first couple games. He started to get his timing off a bit, he’s been working on it in practice and has really been hitting the ball well in practice.”
Luther stood in the batter’s box and delivered a memorable swing.
“You get that feeling preparing yourself for that hit, that at-bat,” Luther said. “It was lefty on lefty and he wanted to get a righty up there and a chance to get a hit, just a great feeling.
“The feeling after you get that hit, seeing those runs come across, it erases whatever slump you’ve been in,” Luther said. “It’s one of the greatest feelings in baseball.”

The Plainsmen (7-3 Suburban Council, 7-4 overall) had their won reasons to celebrate after Kyle Buss hit a three-run home run over the left field wall, giving Shenendehowa a 4-2 lead in the fourth.
“I was just thinking about my last at-bat that I didn’t take advantage of the fastball on a hitter’s count,” Buss said. “I was just thinking, runners on base, in scoring position, thinking fastball on the first pitch and he gave it to me on the inside corner and I just took it.”
Like Luther, he has his own special memories about the contest.
“It’s not about your stats, it’s about running around the bases, putting your team on the board, you’re on your way to victory,” Buss said. “That’s the beauty of it and what every hitter wants.”
The Blue Devils pulled ahead on a two-run shot over the 345-foot mark in center field by Jonas Godell in the fifth, knotting the contest at four apiece before Shenendehowa’s Chris Miller hit a solo shot off Columbia starter Connor Ramon to lead off the sixth.
Dedrick stayed with his starter and Luther’s heroics again made the skipper look like a genius with both decisions.
“We have a certain pitch count with him, with all of our pitchers and he was well under it,” Dedrick said. “I thought he did a good job of getting some quick outs. We were going to go with him, he’s our senior, he’s our ace and he showed it today, no doubt in that last inning.”
The loss will sting the Plainsmen overnight, but their skipper, Jim Carrese, put his squad at ease after the loss.
“We had two batters in a row where we could have put the game away and we didn’t,” Carrese said. “I told my players it’s May 2, not May 22 and learn from the experience.”
His squad and his reliever, Grande continue to live for another day on the diamond.
“I’ve known Colin (Grande) since he was six (years-old) and he never missed a day of camp in the summer,” Carrese said. “He’s a diamond rat and he’s going to comeback tomorrow and he’s going to understand what happened and he’ll go back to work.”

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