By Mike Zummo
The Newburgh Nuclears’ hopes for a District 9 American Legion Baseball Senior championship came to a screeching halt on Sunday when they fell behind seven runs and were eliminated with an 8-4 loss to Kingston-Saugerties at Cantine Field in Saugerties.
Kingston-Saugerties capitalized on Newburgh’s mistakes with a six-run third inning to build an early 7-0 lead.
They opened the scoring in the first inning when Jake Young singled home a run. They broke the game open in the third, with six runs. Landon VanGaasbeck delivered a two-run single, Will Cummings forced in a run after being hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, John McKenna added a sacrifice fly, and two more runs crossed on a Newburgh error.
Newburgh rallied with four runs in the fifth inning to cut the deficit to three runs With D.J. Aviles at the plate, Chase Rounds scored on a passed ball and Robert Lawrence doubled home two runs. Justin Freeman singled home Lawrence to pull the Nuclears to within three runs.
Kingston-Saugerties added a run in the bottom of the fifth on an error by Newburgh third baseman Mason McDonald.
Rounds and Lawrence each collected two hits to lead the Nuclears. Darren Russo started for the Nuclears, allowing seven runs — only one earned — on two hits over three innings. He struck out four and walked five.
Young earned the win for Kingston-Saugerties, giving up four runs on six hits over 4 2/3 innings while striking out four and walking one.
The Nuclears opened the tournament on Saturday with an 11-1 loss to the Orange County Outlaws. The game was called after five innings due to the 10-run rule.
It ended a rough week for the Nuclears, which saw them lose all five of the games they played to finish the season 10-10.
They opened the week with a 6-0 loss to the Outlaws on July 13 and then fell 8-2 to Kingston-Saugerties on Wednesday at Marlboro High School. They were edged 11-10 by the Hudson Valley Select on Thursday at Heritage Financial Field in Wappingers Falls.