Evening Sun Report

Baseball

NEW BERLIN - Hosting its first sectional baseball game since the school merger in 1996, Unadilla Valley’s playoff run was brought to an abrupt halt by Moravia and its star pitcher Dylan Powers.

Other than allowing a lead-off triple in the first and some timely hitting in the fifth inning by the Storm, Powers was firmly in control hurling his team to a 5-2 victory Wednesday afternoon.

The swift-moving game was completed in just 90 minutes as neither team committed an error, and Powers’ two walks were the only free passes issued in the game.

“We just couldn’t catch any breaks. That’s the way it goes,” said UV coach Gary Alford. “I didn’t feel we hit it as well as we are capable of.”

Powers had a big say in the Storm’s struggles at the plate. After Smith’s rocket drive to centerfield, Powers induced two infield flyouts, and struck out Zach Montgomery to end the opening inning, one of his seven strikeouts in the game. “We left Brett stranded with three outs to use,” Alford said. “With a team like that, you need to take advantage as soon as you can.”

Moravia put its first two runs on the board against losing pitcher Brandon Miles in the top of the third. Swinging mostly at the first pitch, the Raiders picked up three hits and an RBI sacrifice fly. Catcher Neil Proper’s sacrifice fly to deep centerfield scored the first run, and clean-up hitter Chris Burnett drove in Powers with the second run.

UV picked up six hits against Powers, three of those coming in the fifth frame. Nate Shackleton legged out an infield single to start the inning, and Chris Emerson’s sharp single with one out gave UV two baserunners for the first time in the game.

Freshman Kyle King, who made a dazzling defensive gem at third base one inning earlier, stroked an RBI single to right field to score Shackleton. After a passed ball, Smith tied the game with a sacrifice fly to right field.

Moravia answered right back scoring two runs in the top of the sixth to chase Miles. Zack Raymond had an RBI double, and Brian Badman followed with an RBI single.

Badman, Raymond, and Proper all had two hits for Moravia, who improved to 7-10 on the season.

Kurt Haycook was the lone UV player to finish with two hits against Powers. “He’s the real deal,” Alford said of Powers. “He’s probably the best pitcher we’ve seen all season. He’s right around the plate, and he mixes it up good.”

Score by Innings R H E