Joe Mags
Greater Watertown, Section 3

Immaculate Heart Central 8, Utica-Notre Dame 7

Third-seeded Immaculate Heart Central overcame three separate deficits, including a 6-1 hole before a five-run spurt in the bottom of the third, and Will Magovney closed the seventh inning to claim the Section 3 Class C championship, 8-7, over No. 12 Utica-Notre Dame on Monday at Onondaga Community College.

Cavaliers catcher Trent Mitchell finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs at the plate, and caught the final out of the game when the Jugglers hit the ball straight in the air behind home plate. Magovney recorded a 1-2-3 save in the seventh inning behind Joshua Navarra and Nolan Bellinger, who picked up the win in three innings of relief after allowing just one run.

IHC (20-3) returned the majority of its roster after losing at the Watertown Fairgrounds to Sauquoit Valley, 9-3, in the Class C second round last season.

“It was clearly our expectation to get to this game,” said IHC head coach Mike Delaney. “And if you get here, you expect to win. It was a disappointing loss last year, and we didn’t play well at the end. This year, we only lost to a Class AA school [Horseheads at Myrtle Beach], South Jefferson and Elmira. It’s always fun when you’re winning.”

Trailing 7-6 heading into the bottom of the sixth, senior Jake Fusilli was hit by a pitch. With one out, Navarra doubled to left field, advancing Fusilli to third. Magovney walked to load the bases, and Mitchell scored Fusilli on a fielder’s choice.

Navarra scored the deciding run later that inning on a wild pitch to the backstop. The senior finished 2-for-3 at the plate with a double and two runs following a difficult pitching performance.

“I give (Josh) all the credit in the world,” Magovney said. “He’s been hitting so well. He didn’t have his best stuff (on the mound), but he fought and it didn’t deter him (at the plate).”

The Jugglers (11-12), who outscored their three sectional opponents, 49-16, before reaching the Cavaliers, got to Navarra for six runs in three innings. In the third, Bellinger threw to Fusilli from deep center field, who found Vincenzo Alteri as a second cutoff man, and Alteri chucked the ball to third base to gun down Anthony Alsante trying for a triple. Navarra ended the inning on his fifth strikeout.

“I asked Josh to pitch on three days’ rest, and it was really too much,” Delaney said. “He gave it his best and I admire that he tried to do it.”

IHC responded following each of Notre Dame’s three scoring efforts. Alteri stretched a single into a two-bagger in the first by catching the defense napping. With two outs, Mitchell hit a ball a mile in the air to left-center field.

“I saw the shortstop going back and he’s yelling, ‘I don’t know where it is,’” Alteri said. “I’m getting to home plate right away. I’m scoring no matter what, and that’s what we needed.”

The ball landed square between the shortstop, left and center fielder, and Alteri cut the Jugglers first lead to 2-1.

“I honestly thought the ball was going to be caught,” Mitchell said. “But then I saw that they were all coming in for it, and they didn’t really know what they wanted to do with the ball. ... We got on the board, and that really pumped our spirits.”

The Cavaliers scored five runs in the third to tie the game at 6-6. Mitchell scored Navarra and Bellinger scored Magovney on back-to-back RBI singles. Then Nick Clement whacked a 2-RBI triple into left field, and Clement later scored on a base hit by Michael Laverty.

“We fought hard today,” Magovney said. “We could have folded after they scored their four runs in the third, but we came out and punched them in the mouth.”

Bellinger threw 60 pitches over three innings, only getting in trouble in the sixth after successive extra-base hits by DeAndre Linder and Kinsey Williams. He helped himself by picking off a runner before Williams’ RBI-triple, and Alteri caught a lazy line drive heading into left field to strand Williams at third.

It was a no-brainer to hand the ball to Magovney in the seventh. On May 20, Magovney secured a second straight Frontier League “A” Division title for IHC behind a two-hit, complete game shutout of Watertown. Last season, as a sophomore, Magovney threw a complete game three-hitter in 85 pitches, and the Cavaliers defeated the Cyclones, 6-1.

“I feel the most comfortable on the field when Willy’s out there,” Mitchell said. “I know he’ll hit my spots when I spot up. I knew when he took the hill we had the game.”

IHC will take on the winner of Section 4 Class C at Onondaga Community College later this week.