Folgers gets it done for LI!! A grand slam in the ninth!!! Road Warriors lead, 11-8, with 2 outs now. pic.twitter.com/WMYvoEH1fT
— aXcess Baseball (@axcessbaseball) July 31, 2017
The Road Warriors showed up to Aviator Field hungry for a win. The game was started with a first pitch lead off homer for Nick Grande (Smithtown West ’16, Stony Brook). The middle infielder would have himself a monster day at the plate leaving the park twice with two dingers. He finished his day 3-for-5 with two HR and four RBI; his third hit of the day started the Road Warriors ninth inning rally.
“ I think our lineup had a great day overall top to bottom,” said Stony Brook sophomore Grande. “The goal was to come out here and set the tone, we fell behind but showed a lot of resiliency which was a great way to start the series.”
The No. 1 seeded Aviators struggled for the first couple innings but came together for two four-run innings. Nick Bottari would get the scoring started for the Aviators with a two-run shot to CF that would tie the game with no one out in the fourth. After holding the Road Warriors to six scoreless frames the Aviators held an, 8-2, lead in the seventh inning.
Grande and the Road Warriors heavy-hitting lineup kept them right in the game starting with scoring three runs in the seventh. A two-run eighth inning would set the table for the cinematic ninth inning.
The inning would be started by Grande’s single and the first pitch Ben McNeill (Commack ’16, NYIT) sees drills him in the back. Sean Rausch (Longwood ’16) would follow with a single of his own loading the bases for Jordan Folgers (St. Anthony’s ’15, Siena).
The St. Anthony’s alumni came off the bench for the Road Warriors replacing Marc Wangenstein in the eighth inning. This had no affect on his approach facing the hard-throwing Aviator reliever, Richard Jackson III. Folgers would find the fastball he was looking for and crush a long fly ball grand slam to give his team an, 11-8, lead with no one out in the ninth.
“It feels awesome, I just wanted to get out there, do some damage, stay relaxed in the box and do something big for my team.” Folgers said.
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The championship matchup was all it was billed as and more. The resilient Road Warriors showed real fight and heart after the Aviators jumped ahead to a, 8-2, lead in the sixth by way of the grand slam. Their shortstop, Matt Hansen, would crush a fly ball to right field clearing the fence by 20-30 feet.
“It’s a long season between school ball and here, we’ve played a lot of games this year so you just need to stay mentally tough up there,” Grande said. “I think that was the difference-maker for us today; staying mentally tough and having good at bats from the beginning to end.”
The Road Warriors did just that in the seventh and eighth innings, as they manufactured five runs to put themselves within one of the Aviators. Rausch, who also finished with a three hit day, would leadoff the eighth with a single. This would ultimately knock the Aviators’ starter, Braeden Holub, out of the game giving the Road Warriors momentum.
“Coming off the bench in the middle of the game you just have to be confident at the plate since you didn’t see any pitching all day,” Folgers said. “So I just went up there, took a deep breath and did my thing.”
The HCBL Championship Series is a best of three with the higher seed hosting two out of the three games. The Road Warriors adopted home for the playoffs has been Stony Brook Southampton campus and they will look to win it all in their first HCBL season. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.
