Aquinas wins first state baseball title

Kevin Oklobzija
Democrat and Chronicle Staff writer

BINGHAMTON — The instant pitcher Ray Kelly recorded the final out in the Class A state baseball championship game on Saturday evening, the Aquinas Institute baseball team stormed the mound.

On that pile of dirt were 23 players, stacked on top of one other, hugging and screaming. Next, they plopped down as one near home plate for the team photo. Make that photos, since seemingly every parent, sibling and friend had piled onto the field to join the celebration.

Then, the players and the AQ baseball entourage tromped out to the right-field fence to pose beneath the scoreboard for more photos.

After winning two games in a 41/2-hour span — a 4-1 semifinal victory over Mexico-Section III before the 3-1 title-game win over Clark High School of Westbury — the Little Irish savored every minute of the moment of the school's first state baseball championship.
"I can't think of anything better than this," senior center fielder Alan Komorowski said. "This is mind-blowing," said Kelly, a junior left-hander who pitched a complete game. "I feel so good." So did everyone else in the white and maroon of Aquinas.

Despite being given little respect in the state poll (ranked 15th) and overshadowed in Section V by four-time defending Class A champion Pittsford Sutherland, the Little Irish (23-5) proved they were best. They marched through the sectionals, regional and state final four with a basic but hard-to-perfect recipe: timely hitting to produce critical runs but great pitching and defense to win games. From the sectional title game through Saturday's doubleheader at Broome Community College, the Irish outscored opponents 23-2.
 
"That's been our M.O. all year," said Komorowski, who drove home the winning and insurance runs against Clark (Section VIII) with fourth- and sixth-inning singles. "The Aquinas family definitely thought we could pull this off but I don't think anyone else did," junior third baseman Jalen Dennis said. Junior right-hander Jed Lemen, the ace of the staff with a 10-1 record, was dominant against Mexico (21-8). Against a team that was averaging 10 runs a game, Lemen allowed just four hits and the run was unearned, fooling Tigers hitters time after time with his skydiving curveball. "My defense is so solid, I rely on them big-time," Lemen said. Dennis doubled home two of the three Aquinas runs in the third inning, and Chris Bostick singled home Eric Knauf in the fourth for a 4-0 lead. The Tigers produced a run in the fifth and, in the sixth, had a runner on second with two out when Jon Silva boomed a Lemen pitch to deep, deep center. Somehow, Komorowski got back to make a diving catch. "If that drops, it really puts us in a little bit of a pickle," Lemen said. Said Komorowski: "That kid put a shot on it. I just planted my feet and hauled butt back to get it." Against Clark — a school that won the 2002 and '05 state titles — Kelly was in charge. He escaped a one-walk, three-hit second inning by giving up just one run, then pitched five scoreless innings, allowing only one more hit. "I was a little nervous," Kelly said of the second inning. "But I settled into a routine. I was just playing baseball again. It's a game, it's a baseball game, just have fun." They all had fun not too much later.

The Aquinas Lil’ Irish won the West regional game by trouncing Buffalo’s representative, Grand Island 12-0. AQ will represent the west region of the state in Binghamton, NY on June 13th. The Lil’ Irish baseball team will be playing for their first state championship in the schools history.

Ray Kelly pitched a complete game shutout as the AQ bats left no doubt who was the best team in Western NY. Chris Bostick led off the bottom of the first with a single. He then stole second and scored on brother Ben Bostick’s single to give AQ a 1-0 lead after one inning.

In the bottom of the third, Ben Bostick beat out a high chopper to second base for an infield hit. Jalen Dennis singled to move Bostick to second. Charlie Welling then singled to score Bostick. With two outs in the inning Mark Terhaar hit a ball back to the pitcher who overthrew first for an error allowing Dennis and Welling to score. Terhaar went to second. Eric Kanuf doubled to score Terhaar as the Lil’ Irish took a 5-0.

In the Aquinas fourth, Alan Komorowski tripled, Ben Bostick walked and stole second. Charlie Welling then doubled to score Komorowski and Bostick. Then, Mark Terhaar knocked in Welling with a single to give AQ an 8-0 lead after four innings.

In the fifth, Chris Bostick and Alan Komorowski hit each hit singles and Ben Bostick walked. With the bases loaded John DiMartino and Mark Terhaar each drew walks to force in two runs. With the bases still loaded Eric Knauf singled to score Bostick and Dimartino.

Pittsford Sutherland earned the chance to win its fifth Section V baseball title in as many years Tuesday night. Second-seeded Aquinas will play the No. 1 Knights following a 4-3 12-inning win over sixth-seeded East Irondequoit Eastridge. Zach Salvia, a sophomore pitcher/first baseman, hit an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning to give Pittsford Sutherland a 6-5 win over Victor during the first of the Section V Class A tournament semifinal games at McDonough Park in Geneva. Ben Bostick lined a single to right field with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the 12th inning to lift second-seeded Aquinas in the second semifinal. Sutherland (23-3), the No. 1 seed, has won the last four championships in this classification. The Knights and Little Irish meet in this season's title game at 7 p.m. Friday back at McDonough. "I wasn't going to be patient like I was earlier," Bostick said of his winning hit. "I just wanted to get a good pitch to hit so we could go home." Jim Buonaugurio scored the winning run for the Little Irish (19-5) after he reached base on an error with one out. "For as hard as we played, we definitely didn't deserve this fate," said Eastridge coach Nate Merritt. "There were a lot of tough situations our pitchers got out of." Eastridge, which was 4-18 last season, finished 15-9.

Jed Lemen pitched a six-hitter with eight strikeouts for the win. Jim Buonaugurio was 2-for-4 with four RBI for the Little Irish (18-5) and Eric Knauf was 2-for-2 with a solo home run, three runs scored, and two RBI. Mark Terhaar was 3-for-4 with a solo home run and two RBI for Aquinas.

Ray Kelly pitched a three-hitter with 13 strikeouts for the Little Irish (17-5). Eric Knauf was 2-for-4 with four RBI for Aquinas and Alan Komorowski was 2-for-2 with two runs scored and two RBI. The 2nd seeded Lil' Irish will face 10th seeded Brighton 4:30 p.m. Friday, May 29th at Aquinas. The Barons advanced by beating 7th seeded HFL 16-13.

Jed Lemen pitched a complete game with nine strikeouts to earn the win and Chris Bostick was 2-for-4 with four runs scored and an RBI to lead the Little Irish. Charlie Welling had a three-run triple and finished with four RBI for Aquinas (16-5).

AQ defeated Greece Arcadia 9-1. Junior Ray Kelly pitched a complete game five hitter with 12 strike outs to get the win for AQ. It was Senior day at Aquinas and Seniors Alan Komorowski, Ben Bostick, and Eric Knauf had two hits a piece. Knauf also knocked in three runs. The Lil' Irish pushed it's record to 15-4 going in to the final game of the regular season against rival McQuaid.

Sean Hare threw a complete game five-hitter and struck out four for the win as Aquinas rolled past Pittsford-Mendon 15 to 2. Ben Bostick went 3-for-3 with four RBI and two runs scored and Alan Komorowski was 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs for the Little Irish (14-5).

The Lil' Irish out hit Webster Schroeder ten to nine but the Aquinas defense committed seven errors in their 8-5 loss to the Warriors during the Rich Pilliter Tournament Championship game. Chris Bostick led off the first inning with a double to left center and Ben Bostick followed with a home run to center. The Lil' Irish added another run on two Webster errors to give AQ a 3-1 lead after 1 inning. That lead was short lived however as Webster's Ben Gielow blasted a three run homer in the top of the third to give Webster a 4-3 lead. The Warriors extended that lead to 8-3 by scoring four runs in the fifth inning. For Aquinas, Jalen Dennis went 3-for-4 with a double. Charlie Welling  was 2-for-4 and Ben Bostick hit a two run homer. Congratulations go out to Ben Bostick and Jed Lemen for being selected to the all tournament team. 

Jed Lemen pitched a complete game four-hitter with 10 strikeouts as Aquinas beat Greece Athena 7-1 in the first round of the 2009 Rich Pilliter Tournament at The Aquinas Institute. The Lil' Irish advanced to face Webster Schroeder in the championship game at 3:00 p.m. Sunday. Chris Bostick went 3-for-3 and Jalen Dennis was 1-for-1 with two RBI. Ben Bostick was 1-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI. Athena is 13-7.

For D&C pictures of this game click here.

Jalen Dennis pitched six innings scattering four hits while striking out eight as the Lil' Irish cruised past Bishop Kearney 14-4. Dennis also helped himself going 3-for-3 with a single, double and triple. Aquinas scored in every inning as ten different players had at least one hit. Mark Terhaar blasted a homer over the right field fence in the third inning. The Lil' Irish improved their record to 11-4.

Sophomore Sean Hare earned his first varsity win pitching 6 1/3 innings allowing five hits and one earned run.
Ben Bostick was 3-for-4 with three RBI for Aquinas (10-4) and Jim Buonaugurio was 2-for-3 with two runs scored.

Alan Komorowski had two hits, drove in three runs and scored three times. John DiMartino hit two doubles and knocked in two runs for the Little Irish (9-4) at Geneva.

Junior Jed Lemen tossed a two-hitter with five strikeouts to lead Aquinas. Jim Buonaugurio went 3-for-4 with three RBI and Mark Terhaar went 3-for-4 with three runs scored for the Little Irish. Alan Komarowski finished 3-for-4 with three stolen bases for Aquinas (8-4). HF-L is 7-3.

Ray Kelly pitched five innings allowing only one hit and no earned runs to notch the win. Sean Hare pitched the last two innings and also allowed one hit and no runs. Ben Bostick and John DiMartino each had two hits and two RBI's. Mike Ruffin and Alan Komorowski knocked in two runs each.

John DiMartino had two hits and an RBI for Aquinas.

McQuaid was leading the Lil' Irish 9-1 heading in to the bottom of the 4th. After several McQuaid errors, a couple of walks, and a couple of hits, Aquinas scored 7 runs in the bottom of the 4th to cut the lead to 9-8. AQ trailed 10-8 going in to the bottom of the 7th. Mark Terhaar led off the inning with a walk. Jim Buonaugurio also walked. Then with two runners on, Chris Bostick blasted a walk off 3 run homer to left field that easily cleared the fence to give the Lil' Irish a 11-10 win over rival McQuaid. Chris finished the game 4-for-5 with 5 RBI's, Ben Bostick and Jalen Dennis each had two hits.

The Lil' Irish must have left their bats in Florida as they were able to manage only six hits in a 5-2 loss to Webster-Thomas. AQ's Jed Lemen pitched well enough to win on most days allowing only four earned runs and striking out six. Charlie Welling went 2-for-3 with a double. John DiMartino also went 2-for-3 with an RBI and Jim Buonaugurio hit a double to knock in a run.

The Lil' Irish finished their road trip to Florida with a 13-7 loss to Bishop Verot. AQ took an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first when Charlie Welling walked, Ben Bostick singled and then Alan Komorowski slamed a three run homer over the right field wall. Aquinas extended their lead to 5-1 in the third after Welling singled and Jalen Dennis blasted a two run homer to deep center field. Bishop Verot answered back in the third when they scored six runs on an error, two walks and five consecutive singles to take a 7-5 lead. In the fifth Ben Bostick singled and Dennis hit his second two run homer of the game to tie the game at 7. A solid hitting Bishop Verot team answered back in the bottom of the inning by stringing several hits together sandwiched around a couple of walks to score six more runs to finish out the scoring at 13-7. Ben Bostick went 3-for-4. Jalen Dennis went 2-for-4 with two homers and 4 RBI's. Alan Komorowski hit a homer and had three RBI's and John DiMartino went 2-for-3. 

Junior Jed Lemen threw a no hitter over Falmouth HS (Maine) in Orlando, Florida. Lemen struck out four while walking only one as Aquinas mercy ruled Falmouth 10-0 in five innings. Chris Bostick led off the game with an inside the park homerun. Ben Bostick and Jalen Dennis both had two hits for the Lil' Irish.

Junior pitcher Ray Kelly was hitting his spots and had the Pittsford hitters off balance as he pitched a complete game allowing only 5 hits and striking out 12. The Lil' Irish pounded out 16 hits as they went on to rout Pittsford Mendon 13-1 in Orlando, Florida. Chris Bostick went 3-for-5. Charlie Welling was 3-for-4 and Ben Bostick went 3-for-5 with a double and 3 RBI's.

AQ traveled to Victor to face the undefeated Blue Devils and went home with a 9-4 victory. Sophomore Steve Trubia went 2-for-2 with a double and three RBI and Ben Bostick went 2-for-3 with a RBI for Aquinas (2-0). Alan Komorowski allowed two hits and struck out two over four innings to earn the win.
Victor is 2-1.

Alan Komorowski and Jed Lemen combined for a one hitter to shutout Saint Joe's in Buffalo as Aquinas won their 2009 season opener. Chris Bostick broke the scoreless tie in the top of the fifth with a double to right field scoring Mark Terhaar and Jed Lemen. Komorowski broke the game open in the top of the sixth with a bases loaded triple to score Chris Bostick, Jim Buonaugurio and Ben Bostick. Chris Bostick went 2-for-4 and knocked in 3 runs. Komorowski also went 2-for-4 and knocked in 4 runs. Aquinas is 1-0.
MAXPREPS PHOTOS OF THIS GAME HERE