Columbia baseball’s Jacob Skarlis pitched a two-hitter Friday to send the Blue Devils past West Babylon 3-0 in the Class A state semifinals at Binghamton University.
The right-hander was supported by by timely hitting right out the gate. Steven Heller led off the top of the first with a double, followed by a Jack Bennett single — the first of two hits for each of them on the day. Heller eventually came around to score on an error by the West Babylon second baseman.
It was a John DelGrosso double that got the sixth inning started. After Ronan Kreshik entered as a pinch runner for DelGrosso, Kyle Blake walked and Korin Laurilla singled — his second hit of the game — to load the bases. Naim Greenberg-Nielsen was hit by a pitch two batters later, then Heller walked, to bring Kreshik and Blake home with the insurance runs for Skarlis.
One West Babylon runner reached on an error in the bottom of the sixth, but otherwise Skarlis shut the door, earning three of his five strikeouts over the final two frames.
Columbia is back in action at Binghamton Saturday at 1 p.m. against Walter Panas.
Chatham advanced to the Class C state championship with a 7-4 win over Notre Dame. The Panthers take on Tuckahoe at Binghamton Saturday at 10 a.m.
Categories: High School Sports, Sports
