Lansingburgh Royals ace Jordan Zareksi was brilliant in Wednesday's opening round game of the New York State Connie Mack Tournament against the Watertown Athletics, hurling a one-hit, 11 strikeout performance in a complete game victory. He did it all after watching his uncle, Rick Zareski, throw out the honorary first pitch in thanks for his military service.
(All photos by J.S. Carras - The Record).

"The way he controlled their bats, I wasn’t about to go to anybody else," said Lansingburgh manager Ernie Ryan. "It was his game to win or lose."

Jordan Hastings connects on a first innings RBI single in Wednesday's game against the Watertown A's. Lansingburgh head coach Ernie Ryan lauded Hastings after the game for his clutch hitting all season long.

Lansingburgh shortstop Josh Lewcykyj slides in safe on a wild pitch under the tag of Watertown pitcher Josh Cox in the third inning of Wednesday's game. He singled, moved to second base on a dropped third strike, tagged and moved to third base and scored on the wild pitch, manufacturing a run all by himself. The Canisius-bound Lewcykyj went 3-for-4 with a solo home run, too. His only problem of the day? A ground ball hopped right up into his mouth in the late innings, giving him a bit of a bloody grin after the game.

"Zareski threw a great game and when he’s on, he’s on," said Lewyckyj. "We knew in the first inning he was on and that takes a lot of pressure off of you, knowing he’s a great pitcher. We knew scoring runs would be important, but we also knew their run total wouldn’t be too high either."

The winner of the Upper New York Amateur Baseball Association Connie Mack Tournament earns a berth in the 2009 North Atlantic Regional to be played in Troy beginning next Wednesday. The winner of the regional heads to the Connie Mack World Series in Farmington, New Mexico.

10 teams were entered for the tournament, but the Brunswick Red team dropped out before playing a game, giving the South Troy Dodgers 17s a first round bye.

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Sorensco, the 2009 Eastern New York Connie Mack regular season champions, beat the Brunswick Buckeyes Blue team 13-4 in a late game, setting up a rematch between Sorensco and Lansingburgh Thursday at 3 p.m at the Boght Complex.
Lansingburgh erased a 7-0 deficit in their game on Monday, earning an 8-7 win to qualify for the state tournament in Latham.

Check out the full story, as well as more on the Sorensco team, in Thursday's edition of The Record.
None of your other local media organizations (print or TV) were there, so you can only read about it in The Record. We'll be there again tomorrow and throughout the tournament, so make sure to check back in the coming days for more on the tournament.

Lansingburgh 4, Watertown 0
WATERTOWN LANSINGBURGH
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Fish c 3 0 0 0 Carmel 3b 4 0 1 1
Caldwell 2b 1 0 1 0 Russo lf 3 0 2 0
B.Magvney cf 3 0 0 0 Lewyckyj ss 4 3 3 1
Cox p 3 0 0 0 Gardner rf 3 0 1 0
VanHten lf-rf 3 0 0 0 Zareski p 2 0 0 0
Kellogg rf-1b 2 0 0 0 Hastings c 3 0 1 1
Wight 1b 1 0 0 0 Teta cf 2 0 0 0
a-Iles ph-lf 2 0 0 0 1-Brisson cf 0 0 0 0
Scordo ss 1 0 0 0 Hunt 2b 3 0 0 0
b-A.Mgvny ss 1 0 0 0 Yattaw 1b 3 1 1 0
c-Exford ph 1 0 0 0
Bodah 2b 2 0 0 0
Totals 23 0 1 0 Totals 35 4 12 4
Watertown...............................000 000 0 - 0 1 3
Lansingburgh .........................101 110 x - 4 9 2
a-struck out for Wight in fifth. b-struck out for Scordo in fifth. c-struck out for A.Magovney in sev¬enth. 1-entered defensively for Teta in fifth.
E-Caldwell, Scordo, Van Houten, Hunt, Lewyckyj.LOB-Watertown 5, Lansingburgh 8. 3B-Carmel. HR-Lewyckyj. CS-Russo 2.
Watertown ip h R er BB SO
Cox, L 6 9 4 2 3 7
Lansingburgh ip h R er BB SO
Zareski, W 7 1 0 0 3 11
WP-Cox. PB-Hastings 2, Fish 2.

SORENSCO 13, BRUNSWICK 4
SORENSCO BRUNSWICK
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Vorris rf 2 2 0 0 Budesheim 3b 3 0 1 0
Murdick ss 3 0 0 1 Sweeney lf-p 1 0 0 2
Gaige dh-p 4 1 3 2 1-O’Brien ph 1 0 0 0
Papas cf 3 1 0 1 Gravelle 2b 4 0 0 0
Schultz lf 4 3 3 3 Rogers p-lf 3 0 1 0
Tidd 1b 4 2 1 1 Keegan 1b 3 0 0 0
Jurczynski c 3 1 1 1 Sodorsky c 2 0 0 0
b-McDngh c 1 0 0 0 Rimkunas ss 1 2 0 0
d-Kasper ph-c 1 1 0 0 Houghtaling cf 2 2 1 0
Casvant 3b-2b 3 1 1 1 Bertrand rf 2 0 0 0
D.Williams 2b 1 0 0 0 2-Brinkman p 1 0 0 0
a-Lghman ph 1 0 0 0
c-Nash 3b 1 1 1 1
Totals 31 13 10 11 Totals 23 4 3 2
Sorensco .................................................010 050 7 - 13 10 2
Brunswick Blue ..........................................002 020 0 - 4 3 2
a-flied out for Williams in fifth. b-grounded out for Jurczynski in sixth. c-walked for Loughman in seventh. d-reached on error for McDonough in seventh. 1-struck out for Sweeney in seventh. 2-entered to pitch in sixth.
E-Gravelle, Houghtaling, Tidd, Papas.LOB-Sorensco 13, Brunswick 5. 2B-Schultz 2.SB-Schultz 2, Casavant 2. CS-Rogers. SF-Sweeney. Sac-Murdick.
Sorensco ip h R er BB SO
Doughtie, W 4+ 3 4 2 3 5
Gaige 2 0 0 0 3 5
Hilton 1 0 0 0 0 2
Brunswick ip h R er BB SO
Rogers, L 4¤ 4 3 3 7 2
Sweeney ª 3 3 3 3 1
Brinkman 1¤ 0 4 4 3 0
Paris ª 3 3 1 0 0
Doughtie pitched to two batters in fifth.
Inherited runners-scored: Gaige 2-2, Sweeney 2-2, Paris 3-3.
WP-Rogers. PB-Sodorsky. HBP-by Rogers (Vooris), by Brinkman (Papas).

Thursday’s Schedule
All games at Boght Area Baseball Complex
Loser’s bracket

West Genesee vs Watertown, Noon
Brunswick Blue vs Clifton Park, Noon

Winner’s bracket

South Troy Dodgers 17s vs South Colonie, 3 p.m.
Lansingburgh vs Sorensco, 3 p.m.

Loser’s bracket

West Genesee/Watertown winner vs Brunswick/Clifton Park winner, 6 p.m.
South Troy/South Colonie loser vs Sorensco/Lansingburgh loser, 6 p.m.

Winner’s bracket

South Troy/South Colonie winner vs. North Colonie, 8 p.m.