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Dobbs Ferry outlasts Pleasantville in B quarters
Kevin Kurtz
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The electric duo of Danny Crowe and Mike Boyle steered fifth-seed Dobbs Ferry to a 6-4 victory over fourth-seeded Pleasantville on Saturday at Pace University. Boyle (six strikeouts) pitched six innings of five-hit ball while Crowe went 1-2 with two walks, two RBI and two runs scored.
“We wanted it, all the guys wanted it,” Crowe said. “We’re playing great baseball right now and there’s no better time to play like this than in the playoffs.”
Pleasantville starting pitcher Chris Leonard (seven innings, four strikeouts) flirted with disaster in the first inning when he loaded the bases with one out but he was able to coax a 4-6-3 double play to end the threat.
Leonard wasn’t so fortunate in the top of the third when consecutive infield hits by Anthony Cialini and Eddie Ritch set the stage for Crowe. The senior laced a ball deep to left center that plated the two runners and slid into third for the triple just as the throw from the outfield sailed wide and he was able to regain his feet and score to give Dobbs a 3-0 lead.
Pleasantville answered right back in the bottom half of the inning after they loaded the bases with one out. The Panther’s Nick Greto steeped to the plate and drove a double into the left-center field gap that cleared the bases to tie the score.
“(Greto) is the guy we were afraid of and with the bases loaded we couldn’t walk him or pitch around him or even mess with curve balls because I didn’t want the ball getting by so we were trapped there,” Dobb Ferry coach Matt Arone said. “But we bounced back, it was quiet from both teams for a couple of innings until late when we got that good sixth inning.”
The sixth inning began when Crowe drew a leadoff walk. Boyle helped his own cause when he followed with a single. Crowe was running with the pitch and he reached third to have men at the corners with no outs. An infield hit from Matt Bohl, a bunt single from Kenyon Roberts and a sacrifice fly from Matt Fata made it 5-3 as the Eagles played small ball to push runs across.
“I knew in a big situation in a playoff game we would come through,” Boyle said. “We stayed focused and we stayed hyped and we put together some big rallies.”
Dobbs tacked on another run in the top of the seventh to make it 6-3. In the final frame Crowe came on to close it out. The Panthers had the top of the order up and got off to a hot start with a single and a double to open the inning and bring the tying run to the plate.
Unfortunately for the Panther faithful, Crowe settled down and struck out the next batter before allowing a sacrifice fly to make the score 6-4. He then got the final out on a fly ball to center.
“We were led by a good group of seniors who always worked hard,” Pleasantville coach Bob Jordon said after the loss. “The seniors took the underclassmen under their win and brought them along and made us a competitive team. The kids never gave up.”
Dobbs Ferry (13-7) moves on to face top-seeded Briarcliff in the semifinals on Tuesday.
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