VESTAL — Elias Conway was born in 2004. That’s also the year Columbia High last won a state baseball championship — until Saturday.
Conway should have a little more recollection of this one. He pitched six effective innings and was backed by the Blue Devils’ 11-hit attack as Section II champion Columbia captured the Class A crown with a 5-1 victory over Walter Panas of Section I in the title game at Binghamton University.
“That’s the greatest experience in my life right there,” Conway said after scattering five hits and allowing one unearned run, striking out seven along the way.
One of nine seniors on the Columbia squad, Conway was in control throughout. He held Walter Panas leadoff hitter Sam Stafura, a Clemson commit and projected by some as a potential first-round draft pick, hitless. The Panthers (25-4) got only two runners as far as second base.
“He’s been locked in,” said Andrew Gabriel, who pitched a perfect seventh, throwing seven of eight pitches for strikes. “He’s a great pitcher. He works hard, too, and he went out and did his thing. He was elite.”
“There were a couple hitters in their lineup that you just can’t let beat you,” Blue Devils coach Chris Dedrick said. “We had a pretty good plan against those guys, and I’m not sure a team can be ready for Elias Conway. When you see a lefty coming in throwing in the 80s … he’s got good command. That was really the difference.”
The Blue Devils (20-6) scored twice in the first on Jacob Skarlis’ single and John DelGrosso’s double, and plated two more in the second courtesy of Steven Heller’s two-run double.
Gabriel finished with three hits. Heller and DelGrosso had two hits apiece.
“We were just trying to stress mental toughness in the box, box presence,” said Dedrick, whose team struck out just twice. “The guys got in there, even with two…
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