Railroaders drop thriller, bounce back against Burghers

By Dan King

Last Wednesday, the Whitehall baseball team defeated Corinth by a score of 12-4 to advance to 6-0 in Adirondack League play. Poczobut slides head first into home

Justin Hoagland was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate, while Derek Thomas and Christian Poczobut each added two hits to the Railroaders’ cause. Thomas had two RBI and Poczobut had one.

Railroaders’ hurler Thomas also picked up the win against the Tomahawks, giving him a record of 2-1 on the season.

The win over Corinth set up a battle of two undefeated Adirondack League foes two days later, as the Railroaders traveled down Route 4 to take on the Fort Ann Cardinals. Last Friday’s Whitehall vs. Fort Ann game was billed as the Adirondack League game of the year, and unlike the Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquaio fight, it lived up to the hype.

Ultimately the Cardinals downed the Railroaders in a back and forth battle, 8-5.

After the game started as a pitchers’ duel, the Railroaders jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning, when freshman Dan St. Clair singled to plate a run and end the scoreless streak. At that point, both teams opened up the offense.

Fort Ann would bounce back and score two runs in the bottom half of the inning to take a 2-1 lead.

Whitehall, however, would continue the teeter-totter affair. After Chad Amerio drove in a run and a few Fort Ann errors brought in another in the top of the sixth, it gave the lead back to the Railroaders at 3-2.

The Cardinals then scored two more in the bottom of the sixth, to take a 4-3 lead into the final inning.

Whitehall would rally for two more runs in the top half of the final inning to take a 5-4 lead, but was unable to preserve the lead in the bottom of the frame.

After the Cardinals tied the game, Whitehall coach Jason Hoagland decided to replace starting pitcher Christian Poczobut. The first batter that reliever Justin Hoagland faced was Fort Ann sophomore Jeremy Johnson, who was struggling. However, with two runners on, Johnson lifted a pitch to deep center field, which would carry far enough to clear the fence for a walk-off home run.

The Railroaders bounced back from Friday’s loss by defeating a very good Warrensburg team on Monday night at Warrensburg by a score of 8-2.
Going up against the Burghers’ best pitcher, Shea Irish, the Railroaders were able to manage 14 hits in the win.

Hoagland was 4-for-5 at the plate, driving in three runs, and Barber was 3-for-4 with two RBI.

Irish reached base during all four of his at bats for the Burghers.

Tyler Thomas got the win on the mound for Whitehall, improving to a perfect 3-0 on the season.

Whitehall (7-1, 10-3) was at Hadley-Luzerne on Wednesday, after this edition had already gone to press. The Railroaders are back in action next Monday hosting Fort Edward/Argyle for a 4:15 p.m. start.