Robert Tedesco takes a big hack during Friday's game against the North Colonie Padres. He won two starts against the South Colonie Padres in the tournament, including an 8-3 triumph in Sunday's championship game. He was named tournament MVP and earned the South Troy Dodgers' 17-year-old team a berth in the North Atlantic Regionals, which begin Wednesday in Troy. (Photo by J.S. Carras - The Record)

"After I threw against South Colonie the first time, I said, ‘Alright coach, 109 pitches today, I’ll see you Sunday," said Tedesco. "I just went home and iced and did everything I could to get back to Sunday because Sunday was the championship. Sunday came along and (coach Doug LaValley) said, ‘here’s the ball. Go to work’."

Tedesco ran out of gas, finally, in the sixth, walking the first three batters he faced. John Kellogg came in and put out the fire, striking out four in the final two innings to slam the door on the Raiders, who were the defending champions of the New York State tournament.

"I was just trying to throw strikes," said Kellogg, a Bethlehem High graduate. "I only threw one or two curveballs the whole two innings. I was just pounding them with fastballs. I was trying to get outs and make them hit it and they just turned into strikeouts and we were able to work out of it."

Sean Geisel drove in three runs and has done a great job out of the No. 5 hole in the lineup - a big RBI spot.

"I just try to make contact," Geisel said. "I can’t drive in runs if the guys in front of me aren’t getting on base. It’s really up to them to get on base, which they’ve been doing a lot and helping me out."

South Colonie's Liam Keegan lays down a sacrifice squeeze bunt in the second inning of Sunday's game against the Lansingburgh Royals. One run scored on the play and the Raiders added two more in the inning. It was all starter Chris Kalica would need, as he pitched a complete game, three-hit gem in a 3-0 victory, vaulting the Raiders into the title game against South Troy. (Photos by Mike McMahon - The Record).

South Colonie's Eric Birdsall makes an attempt at a play on a ball off the bat of Lansingburgh's Ray Carmel. Carmel was stranded on third base and was the only Royals runner to advance that far against Kalica.

Check out full coverage of the game in Monday's edition of The Record.

SOUTH COLONIE 3, LANSINGBURGH 0

South Colonie 030 000 0 – 3 3 2
Lansingburgh 000 000 0 – 0 3 3
Kalica and Harris; McLaughlin, Carle (4) and Russo.

SOUTH Troy 8, South Colonie 3
Championship game

SOUTH COLONIE SOUTH TROY

ab r h bi ab r h bi
Birdsall rf-p 2 1 0 0 Rebhun ss 1 1 0 1
Weinman 2b 2 1 1 0 Tedesco p 3 1 0 0
Harris c 3 1 0 0 DePietro lf 3 1 2 1
Notar 1b-3b 3 0 1 1 b-Sobiecki lf 1 0 0 0
Fitzgerald cf 3 0 0 0 Roth 3b 3 2 1 0
Smith dh-p 2 0 0 0 Geisel 2b 2 2 2 3
Gaffney 3b 2 0 0 0 Young rf 2 0 1 0
a-Gerard ph-lf 0 0 0 0 Dugan 1b 4 0 1 1
Jeffers ss 3 0 0 0 Sherwood c 3 0 1 0
Keegan lf-1b 3 0 0 0 Morrissey cf 2 1 0 1
Totals 23 3 2 1 Totals 24 8 8 7
South Colonie .........................................................000 003 0 - 3 2 1
South Troy ................................................................310 031 x - 8 8 1
a-walked for Gaffney in sixth. b-entered defensively for DePietro in sixth.
E-Harris, Roth. LOB-South Colonie 7, South Troy 8. 2B-Geisel, Young, Dugan. SB-Rebhun, Tedesco. CS-DePietro. DP-South Troy 1 (Geisel & Dugan). GIDP-Harris.
SOUTH Colonie ip h R er BB SO
Quinlan, L 4+ 5 5 5 6 4
Herman ª 0 2 2 4 1
Birdsall 1¤ 3 1 1 0 0
South Troy ip h R er BB SO
Tedesco, W 5+ 1 3 2 6 5
Kellogg 2 1 0 0 1 4
Quinlan pitched to one batter in fifth. Tedesco pitched to three batters in sixth. Inherited runners-scored: Herman 1-1, Birdsall 3-0, Kellogg 3-3.
WP-Tedesco, Quinlan, Birdsall. HBP-by Kellogg (Weinman).

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Many people deserve credit for making the five-day event a success at the Boght Area Baseball Complex.
The North Colonie Padres hosted the tournament and their grounds crew and concessions stand volunteers were tireless in their dedication to making sure the fields were playable and the fans were fed.
Joe Henkel did an admirable job as the public address announcer.
And let's not forget all the players and coaches who sacrificed five full days of their time trying to earn a berth in the North Atlantic Regionals.