Sometimes, games do live up to their advanced billing. 

On Saturday, April 2, undefeated baseball teams from Rye Neck and Bronxville squared off in an early-season game that served as a rematch to last June’s thrilling Class B championship contest. But while the Panthers—who topped the Broncos 6-2 for the title last year— were able to earn yet another victory over the visitors this weekend, the sledding was far from easy, as it took a four-run rally and a walk-off single from Evan Janowitz to send Rye Neck home with a 6-5 victory.

Heading into Saturday’s game, Rye Neck head coach Joe Carlucci said that he and his team spoke about the importance of putting the meeting with Bronxville in perspective. But although he was clear in his attempts to frame the matchup as nothing more than an early-April non-league game, he knew it would be tough sell for his players.

“In the discussion before the game, the idea was not to worry about it being a section final rematch, but they certainly knew that it is,” said Carlucci. “We had a lot of new guys, we had a lot to replace from last year, but they showed up to play.” 

Early on, however, it seemed as though that emotionally-charged atmosphere may have worked to the Panthers’ detriment. A few costly defensive miscues helped the Broncos jump out to a 3-0 lead against Rye Neck starter Sam Dalsimer, who was otherwise effective against a potent Bronxville lineup.

The Broncos kept the Panthers off the board until the bottom of the fifth inning when Dalsimer helped his own cause by driving in two runs to draw his team to within one. In the top of the fifth, however, the Broncos plated two more against eight-grade reliever Davey Ryan to carry a 5-2 lead into the final frame. 

And that’s when the Panthers came alive. 

Stringing together workman-like plate appearances, the Panthers eventually tied the game up at on a base hit by Luke Murphy, which set the stage for Janowitz’s game-winning hit.

The sophomore insisted after the game that he didn’t have much of a strategy heading into his final plate appearance.

“I was just trying to smash it,” Janowitz said. “I just wanted to hit it hard, bring in the run and win the game.”

After suffering its first loss of the season, Bronxville rebounded on Monday afternoon to beat Valhalla 10-4 at home. Rye Neck will host Edgemont on April 7, after press time. 

With an emotional win in the books, Carlucci hopes that the lessons his team learned against Bronxville will serve the Panthers well throughout the year.

“This was a good win,” said the head coach. “These guys played hard throughout, they never gave up, so they get all the credit.”

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