Third baseman Ryan Wynne and catcher Tim Holler mob Devin O’Connor after his complete-game, shutout win over Tappan Zee in the Class A seminfinals.
ORANGEBURG – Call it magic.
Call it a team getting hot at the right time.
Most of all, call it one heck of a story.
No. 17 Brewster is one win away from being the Section 1 Class A baseball champions.
The Bears toppled No. 4 Tappan Zee 8-0 Wednesday in a game they led from the first inning.
Brewster, which earlier upended No. 1 Hendrick Hudson, took advantage of nearly every defensive mistake by the host Dutchmen – and there were quite a few – while getting an A-game out of senior starter Devin O’Connor, who went the distance for his fifth win of the season against only one loss.
“It’s a bad combination if you don’t hit well and you don’t field well,” said Tappan Zee coach Mark Stanford, who knows about sweet underdog stories, having led his then-No. 11-ranked team to the section championship in 2011.
Tappan Zee finished the season at 16-7.
Brewster, which was 9-11 during the regular season, is now 13-11 and will face No. 2 John Jay-Cross River in the Class A final Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Palisades Credit Union Park.
Nathan Beal or Christian Lando will get the start, according to coach Matt Cunningham, but whoever it is will be on a short leash.
“It’s all hands on deck,” he said.
Player of the game: If Brewster gets anywhere near the game O’Connor threw it may have itself the ultimate Cinderella championship.
While not happy with his team’s performance, Stanford appreciated the lanky righty’s effort, saying, “He stayed outside all day. He kept hitting his spots. He did an outstanding job.”
O’Connor, who opened and closed the game with a strikeout, scattered seven hits. He rarely was in trouble, and even when it looked like he might be, he’d quickly escape.
Down to its last breath, Tappan Zee threatened in the seventh, for instance, before a great throw from Timmy Catalano in deep left to Ryan Wynne nailed John Veraja, who’d walked and was trying to advance to third on John Daly’s double.
Brewster’s Ryan Wynne tags out Tappan Zee’s John Veraja on a throw from left by Timmy Catalano..
O’Connor, who is considering playing a year of club ball at Binghamton before possibly trying to walk on to the college squad, then finished things by striking out TJ Davidson after a long battle.
“He spots his fastball. He’s very accurate with his fastball … Every pitch is by design and every pitch is very important and now we’re hitting,” said Cunningham, who allowed that his team’s run is “unexpected.”
Turning point: Brewster touched up southpaw starter and loser Nick Delli Pizzi for three first-inning runs.
O’Connor had the big blow, a one-out double that scored Jason Gonch, who led off with a double, and Matt Catalano, who singled. O’Connor then scored on Tim Holler’s two-out double.
Stat line: O’Connor struck out eight and walked just one.
Delli Pizzi was charged with four runs in two innings, leaving in the top of the third for reliever Justin Powell after giving up a leadoff single to Matt Catalano. After a walk to O’Connor, Tim Catalano had an RBI single and the Bears’ fifth run scored on a wild pitch.
An error and a wild pitch resulted in Brewster’s sixth run in the fourth inning.
And, remarkably, Tappan Zee allowed another two runs in the seventh inning with a wild pitch at the center of things as a bases-loaded walk on a wild pitch not only scored Wynne from third but also Luke Barnes, who hustled all the way in from second.
Quotables: “We’re just having fun out here. We just have to keep it going,” said senior Jack Dempsey. Dempsey would have had a two-out RBI double in the second but failed to touch first base and was called out. However, he scored on the fourth-inning wild pitch after singling.
Sophomore catcher Tim Holler said unlike much of the regular season, “Opportunities are arriving for us in the playoffs. We can jump on other teams.”
O’Connor focused on this being his last go-round for the Bears after 2 1/2 years on varsity.
“It’s been a tough couple of years for us but it’s better late than never,” he said. “I think it has a little more meaning. There is no better feeling than this right now.
Twitter: @HaggertyNancy