Jake DeSane could only watch helplessly as the ball he’d just thrown rolled to a stop in the rightfield grass.

Hawley’s ace hurler dropped to his knees in front of the mound as Cody Dirlam scurried in from third with the winning run. Pandemonium erupted in the Re-Max dugout as players swarmed the area around home plate.

The Renegades would live to play another day, but the A’s season had come to a cruel end. Re-Max had just pulled off an electrifying 1-0 victory in the Wayne County Teener League semifinals. And, in so doing, Coach Billy Phillips’ squad advanced to yet another title series.

The Renegades have won four of the last seven league championships.

DeSane buried his face in his glove and began to sob, his shoulders heaving. Coaches, family members and teammates were at Jake’s side in a flash...trying to console him. He’d left it all on the mound, but come up just short.

“Boy, they both pitched great...it’s a shame either one of them had to lose,” Coach Phillips told TWI Sports. “This is what it’s all about. This was a well-played baseball game and it was fun to be part of it.”

Re-Max begins its quest for the 2008 Wayne County Teener League crown this weekend. The Renegades open a best-of-three series against Tusten on Saturday.

The Chiefs punched their ticket to the finals via a convincing 6-0 victory over the Honesdale Eagles. Re-Max (13-2) and Tusten (13-4) have been on a collision course all summer and should produce a truly dramatic finish to the campaign.

Game One is slated for 6:00 p.m. Saturday in Beach Lake Game Two would be Monday in Narrowsburg. If a third game becomes necessary, the two teams will return to the Group Home Tuesday night.

Stay tuned to TWI Sports for complete coverage of the ‘08 finals.

Matching Zeroes
Jake DeSane and Wyatt Davis put on quite a show for several hundred hardball fans who make the trek to Beach Lake Wednesday. The two talented young hurlers matched one another pitch-for-pitch through six scintillating innings.

DeSane spotted his fastball, but dominated Renegade batters with a devastating curve. The 14-year-old righty surrendered just one hit on the night and struck out eight.

Davis was almost as good. Wyatt also pitched a complete game, working seven full innings and yielding only three hits. He didn’t issue a single free pass all night and allowed only one A’s runner as far as third base.

It was a virtuoso performance that left Coach Phillips shaking his head.

“Wyatt was terrific tonight,” he said with a smile. “He’s not going to overpower you, but he is sneaky-fast. He’s always around the plate and keeps hitters off-balance. We needed a big game from Wyatt and he gave it to us.”

Hawley’s Ian Dassance was the key to Davis’ success in this particular game. Less than a week ago, the A’s slugger haunted Re-Max pitchers with an awesome power display.

Dassance went 3-for-4 with a single, double and homer. Ian also walked, scored a pair of runs and collected three RBIs. Fortunately for Re-Max fans, the Renegades were able to hang close before eventually rallying for a 10-7 extra inning victory.

That win brought with it the Southern Division title, a #1 seed in the play-offs and that crucial first round bye.

On Wednesday, Davis handled Dassance without incident. Wyatt gave up a first inning double, but then retired Ian on pop-ups in the fourth and seventh.

Over & Out
The only real rally of the game came in the bottom of the seventh.

With the score still knotted at 0-0, Dirlam squeezed a free pass from an exhausted DeSane. Cody wasted no time turning up the heat by stealing second.

Then, Alex Hicks delivered the Play of the Day. Re-Max’s third baseman had finished the regular season with a mind-boggling .621 batting average. And yet, in this crucial situation, he was asked to do the unthinkable: bunt.

One of the Renegades’ most complete ballplayers, Hicks laid down a perfect sacrifice. Alex deadened the ball to the right of the mound. DeSane fielded it cleanly, took a look at third and decided his only play was at first.

Sadly for A’s fans, the ball sailed high over Will McLaughlin’s head. Dirlam came all the way around to score and the Renegades had themselves a 1-0 win.

Score by Innings...
HAW   0  0  0  0  0  0  0 - 0
REM    0  0  0  0  0  0  1 - 1