Tamarac senior pitcher Chris Ryan (above) was superb in Saturday's championship game of the Canonica Classic against Maple Hill. He scattered four hits and a run over seven innings, striking out eight Maple Hill batters in a 2-1 victory for the Bengals. He worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth and allowed a run on a pair of doubles in the sixth but rallied to slam the door after allowing a leadoff single in the seventh. He earned tournament MVP honors for his efforts. (All photos by J.S. Carras - The Record).

Tamarac second baseman Brady Talbot fires to first base early in Saturday's game at Maple Hill High School. Talbot scored Tamarac's first run when Maple Hill's Joe Dugan walked four of the five batters he faced in the first inning. He added a single in the fourth inning and stole two bases for the Bengals and also made the pivot on a double play in the second inning.

Tamarac's Connor Whalen is forced out at second by Maple Hill shortstop Patrick Curtain (11) in the second inning. Maple Hill second baseman Kyle Smith (6) looks to first base.

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It was a great game all around with crisp defensive play by both teams and a masterful performance by Chris Ryan. Maple Hill pitchers walked 11 batters but the Bengals were thrown out on the basepaths three times and could manage only a single run in the first and second innings, but Ryan made sure they held up.

"I knew coming into this that they had (Jaime) Schultz and Papas, who are two good hitters," Ryan said. "I just felt like I had to throw a lot of junk and thankfully my slider and curveball were working. I just had to locate with the fastball when I could."

Ryan's twin brother Brad sprained his knee running the bases in the first inning and was replaced by Brent Messemer, but Tamarac head coach Dave Bestle imagines Brad will be O.K. by the time the Bengals (1-2, 5-4) dive into Wasaren League action this week.

"It had the feel of a sectional game and that was a nice experience for our kids," said Maple Hill head coach Rico Frese. "We have league play coming up this week and it was a good tuneup for that."

Maple Hill (2-0, 3-1) plated 27 runs in an opening round victory over New Lebanon and just was not able to get going against Ryan. Taylor Farrell stroked a single to right center in the fifth inning for the Wildcats first hit of the game (he added another in the seventh) and Jaime Schultz and Joe Dugan doubled in the sixth. But Ryan never lost control, kept in good rhythm with catcher Josh Johnson and did just enough to earn the Bengals a feel-good victory.

"(Ryan is) a terrific kid," said Dave Bestle. "He wanted to pitch this game. Him and a group of four or five other guys, at least, have been working tremendously hard for us and for them to get a little bit of a payback today was awesome. It was a well-run tournament and we know how good Maple Hill is and that’s the reasoning of why we feel as good as we do."

Tamarac's Kyle Bestle and Maple Hill's Nick Papas were named to the All-Tournament team.

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Maple Hill hosted this tournament for the third year to honor longtime head coach Jim Canonica, who won 243 games as the skipper in Schodack. He now serves as an assistant coach for the Wildcats.

Tamarac's first-year head coach Dave Bestle, who spent the previous 15 seasons at Lansingburgh, entered the day with 243 career wins, matching Canonica. But with victories over Catholic Central and Maple Hill, he surpassed a Rensselaer County legend, who was on the field to witness it. An intersting day on the diamond, indeed.

2009 Canonica Classic championship game
Tamarac 2, Maple Hill 1

MAPLE HILL TAMARAC
ab r h bi ab r h bi
McInerney c 4 0 0 0 Talbot 2b 3 1 1 1
Busdckr 1b-lf 3 0 0 0 Johnson c 3 0 1 0
Schultz cf 3 1 1 0 C.Ryan p 2 0 0 0
Papas lf-p 2 0 0 0 B.Ryan 1b 0 0 0 0
Dugan p-1b 3 0 1 1 a-Messemr rf 2 0 0 0
Pulikowski 3b 3 0 0 0 Phillips rf-1b 2 0 0 1
Farrell rf 3 0 2 0 Shaw cf 2 1 2 0
1 - R.Smith pr 0 0 0 0 Bestle ss 1 0 0 0
Curtain ss 2 0 0 0 Brinkman lf 3 0 0 0
K.Smith 2b 2 0 0 0 Whalen 3b 1 0 0 0
Totals 25 1 4 1 Totals 19 2 4 2
Maple Hill (2-0, 3-1).........000 001 0 - 1 4 0
Tamarac (1-2, 5-4)....110 000 x - 2 4 1
1 – ran for Farrell in seventh. a- entered defensively for B.Ryan in second.
E-Bestle. LOB-Maple Hill 6, Tamarac 10. DP-Tamarac 1 (Bestle, Tablot & Phillips). GIDP-Pulikowski. 2B-Schultz, Dugan. SB-Talbot (2), Shaw. CS-C.Ryan, B.Ryan.
Maple Hill IP H R ER BB SO
Dugan, L 0.1 0 1 1 4 0
Papas 6.2 4 1 1 7 7
Tamarac IP H R ER BB SO
C.Ryan, W 7 4 1 1 2 8
WP-Dugan, Papas. PB-McInerney. HBP-by C.Ryan (Papas).