CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. — On the back of the Shenendehowa Plainsmen varsity baseball team’s practice jersey is a quote, from head coach Greg Christodulu, that simply reads: “We do what we do…Brotha.”
Christodulu remembers coining the mantra back in 2013, “when we started creating a culture in how we wanted to play and focus on our execution…our performance…our own level of play,” he wrote via text message. It’s even inscribed on the inside of the program’s 2016 State Championship ring – the last time Shenendehowa won it all.
What the Plainsmen have done this postseason took no shortage of mettle, going a perfect, 4-0, in win-or-go-home, elimination contests, half of which were decided via comeback in the final two innings. Now, ‘brotha,’ they’re set to compete in the Class AAA State Final Four, this Friday in Binghamton.
“We just stick together. We don’t want to go down and lose in a tough way. If we go down, we want to go down aggressively. We all love each other. I think everybody bonds together really well, so when we see one guy go down, we pick the next guy up,” said Shenendehowa senior third baseman Cooper Reinisch.
“I think it comes back to their experience. The core group, this senior group, played in the (State) Final 4 last year, they played in a (Sectional) three-game series, in the championship series, being down one game, last year in 2023. They know what it looks like. They know what they’re supposed to do. They’re physically stronger, they’re mentally stronger, they have more mental flexibility, which is critical in playoff time,” said Christodulu. “You gotta be able to adjust to situations and then, now that they’re physically stronger, they can apply their craft even better, at a more competitive level. All those components are critical for when we face elimination.”
The latest victory was perhaps the craziest of the bunch for Shenendehowa thus far, coming in last Saturday’s Regional Championship versus CBA-Syracuse. Trailing 10-5 entering the top of the seventh at Onondaga Community College, Shenendhowa plated six runs on five hits, two hit-by-pitches, and a walk, earning an 11-10 win to advance into this weekend’s semifinal matchup.
“Before the end, we got all the guys together and said, ‘We need to bring some more energy in the last inning,'” Plainsmen senior first-baseman Ian Oehlschlaeger recalled. “We got really loud and just fed off each other. That first base-runner was huge and then we just kept the rally going.”
“That’s leadership and that was critical. It didn’t have to come from the coaching staff, it didn’t have to come from me, it came from the senior group and that, I think, really set the tone that- ‘we’re not going down without a fight here,” Christodulu said.
Since that game last Saturday, which started at 6 p.m. near 130 miles from Clifton Park, the Plainsmen got a pair of days off to start the next week and battled the heat at practice to end it, before heading out to Western New York once again. The team still has its momentum and some learning lessons along with it.
“We talked about the good things we did, we talked about the things we have to get better at to play in the Final 4 and be competitive; obviously, it was a very celebratory meeting yesterday before we started practice, but we pointed out some things that we have to tighten up,” said Christodulu.
Shenendehowa, despite clawing out the late win over CBA-Syracuse, committed six errors to put themselves in the five-run hole. The defense has been among the focal points since retaking the field to prep for Friday’s opponent – the defending, Class AA State Champion.
“It seemed like everybody either had a mental error, or a throwing error that wasn’t really an error, but was poorly thrown, or an actual error. I’m not going to make excuses, I don’t think our players would make excuses; we just have to play better,” Christodulu said. “We were fielding at a very competitive clip. We were over .940, approaching .950, which is a championship-level defense, but we dropped after those errors. But hey, things came together. A ‘W’ is a ‘W’ at this point in the season.”
“I think we’re going to be fine defensively. We’ve been fine all year,” added Oehlschlaeger. “It’s just one bad game. It’s not gonna affect us at all.”
Section I’s Roy C. Ketcham has a loaded résumé, ranked No.1 in New York via MaxPreps, featuring a college-bound starting nine, led by the State’s Player of the Year and Ole Miss commit, senior shortstop Owen Plaino.
After helping win the Class AA crown in 2023, Plaino is batting .532 with four home runs, 28 RBIs, 37 runs scored, and 22 stolen bases, via the Poughkeepsie Journal.
“We don’t want to overthink it. We don’t want to worry about the (NCAA) D-1 commits, we just want to throw our game, fill up the zone, get outs, trust our defense, and just do what we’ve been doing all year,” said Shenendehowa senior pitcher R.J. Ensel. “We don’t worry about the commits, we don’t worry about the Gatorade player of the year, or whatever it is; just do our thing.”
“We know they are extremely talented, but hey, you got to go out and make plays, you got to go out and compete, and anything can happen, as we learned again, last weekend in Syracuse,” said Christodulu. “Anything can happen at any juncture of that game. So, if we can push the envelope right to the edge, make something happen…baseball is a crazy game.”
Going on the bump for Friday’s 4 p.m. start-time will be Shenendehowa’s own NCAA Division-1 commit, senior right-hander James Reddick (Fordham). Out of the eight runs CBA-Syracuse plated off of Reddick in his start last Saturday, none of which were earned, per the aforementioned fielding miscues.
“‘Just flush it,'” Ensel said of his message to his fellow pitcher, “He’s gonna throw a bullpen (Wednesday), gonna get his confidence all back and our defense is working out; they’re gonna play a lot better, hopefully, next game.”
“And, ‘come with a new, fresh head,'” Ensel added, “‘just be fresh in the head and be ready to go.'”
Reddick still fought through four innings of work in the Regional Championship, with Ensel going the last three innings, allowing just two runs (one earned), and eventually winding up in line for the victory.
“I just had to give our team a shot, keep them as close as possible, and let them do their thing,” Ensel said. “I wasn’t gonna give them any freebies. I wanted to throw strikes and if they hit the ball, they get hits, that’s props to them. I’m gonna trust our defense, let our defense make the plays and I’m just gonna throw it over the plate and see what happens.”
“He limited the damage in the fifth (inning) and then he went and threw two zeros up there in the sixth and seventh,” said Christodulu. “Having a veteran, who’s pitched in Regionals and who pitched in the Final Four last year, is very, very critical for us.”
No matter who has pitched for the Plainsmen this postseason, the offense has seemed to have no problem backing them, at some point or another in the ballgame, as the group is averaging just under eight runs per game scored in the seven postseason games this far.
The production at the plate has come from up and down the lineup as well, such as a Reinisch grand slam in Game 2 of the Section 2 Finals, an Oehlschlaeger two-run double in Game 3 to help win the sectional title, and a three-run double from left fielder Jason Clawson to bring the Plainsmen tied with the Brothers in the Regional Championship.
“It builds confidence in everybody. I think everybody knows that if everybody’s hittin’ the sky, then anybody can hit the sky and if you see the guy in front of you do it, then that gives you a little bit of confidence that you can do it as well and you can start to see it a little bit,” Reinisch said.
“We just feed off each other. Like, the guys before us, they help the next guy in line to just keep the line going and bring some energy when you go to the plate,” added Oehlschlaeger.
Nearly a year ago, Shenendehowa was in the same position, only to fall in the 2023 State Semifinal versus Commack, a game away from meeting with Ketcham for what would’ve been the first time since 2014.
Some, like Reinisch, say they’ve put that loss in the past, while others, like Ensel, still draw on it for motivation, especially now back on the Final 4 stage. Shenendehowa hasn’t made it to the State title game since 2019 when it finished as runner-up after a 5-0 loss versus McQuaid-Jesuit.
Reinisch, while only 14 at the time, remembers the ride well, as his brother, Jake Reinisch was a junior on the team. He sees some similarities between the groups.
“Just the fight. Close games, they happen, they come and go. We just have fun, play our best, and I think they had a lot of fun too. They were a very close-knit as well, both of the teams had been playing together, like we’ve been playing together, for the past five to 10 years. So, if we just stay together and we’re close-knit and have fun, what more can you ask for?” said Reinisch.
This current iteration of the Plainsmen was even younger when the 2016 squad hoisted the last State title plaque. While the players may not have been up close and personal for that run, they’ve heard there might be some similarities between those two groups as well.
“I honestly remember just a lot of the stories about it and just how tight-knit of a group the team was and I feel like we have that type of team here,” said Oehlschlaeger. “We just got to come together as one for these last two games and finish it out.”
For Christodulu, it’s the opposite and that’s not a bad thing.
“Each team is different and every team has different characters in terms of personalities and how they compete. This group is special, the 2023 team was different and special, even though it was some of the same characters, you had the ’19 team that made it to the State final and that was a different group, and then the ’16 team, that was just a big team in terms of some personalities, obviously recognition of some big-time players that went on to do super things…we had a lot of high achievers,” Christodulu said. “But first, I would say this team is totally different and that makes it unique. It’s definitely unique.”
Shenendehowa still hopes to recapture some of that magic this weekend and bring home the inaugural, Class AAA hardware. First up, however, is another winner-or-go-home matchup, versus its most formidable opponent thus far. But if there’s one thing to know about the program as a whole, they do what they do. Brotha.
“It’d be awesome. We have a dominant senior group, it’s like a family, honestly. This just means a lot,” said Ensel.
“We’re just gonna go out there and have fun. They’re expected to win the game, so if we can just go out there and have fun, play our best, we’re gonna have a pretty good shot to win.”
