Lead Stories, Sports

Tigers claim fourth-straight Class C crown

by Mike Smith

Winning a Section 1 title may be nothing to sneeze at, but for the Tuckahoe Tigers, it’s merely a stop on the trail to a grander goal.  On Thursday, March 29, the Tigers won their fourth-straight Class C championship, downing Haldane 7-2 to bounce the Blue Devils in a best-of-three series for the coveted crown. But rather than resting on their laurels, the team is of one mind; last week’s win is only the beginning. 

The Tigers rode a commanding game from senior Jack Rideout in their clincher, as the big right-hander fanned 13 Blue Devils batters en route to a commanding win. Rideout said he felt comfortable on the mound, given Tuckahoe’s recent history in big games, the team’s success against Haldane this year and his feel for his pitches.

Jack Rideout delivers a pitch on May 29. Rideout fanned 13 batters in Tuckahoe’s 7-2 clincher.

“The sinker has been working for me all year pretty much, but today the slider was working better than usual too, so I was happy with that,” said Rideout. “I had a lot of adrenaline going today.” 

Rideout also noted that the Section 1 title win wasn’t a moment of euphoria for the Tigers as much as it was a definitive ending of the first chapter of the season.

“Right now, it’s more relief than anything,” said Rideout. “We have a new coach this year, we’ve been playing well the whole season and this just shows what we’ve been working towards.”

Shortstop Rocco Briante, who plated a pair of runs in a big sixth inning spree for the Tigers, elaborated on Rideout’s sentiments, noting that the Tigers fully expected to be sectional champs coming into the year. 

“We said at the start of the season, the season doesn’t start until we get to Binghamton,” said Briante. “This means something but we’re not satisfied.”

Briante noted that the team didn’t miss a beat under first-year head coach James Puma, coming out of the gates strong against larger schools to set the tone for the remainder of the year. 

“We had a good first week, we beat Somers, Eastchester two Class AA schools, and it was all just leading up to this,” said Briante. “Now that we’re in the state tournament, we can’t get comfortable, we can’t get complacent; we need to stay focused on winning a state championship.”