WAPPINGERS FALLS – Walking off the mound, Ketcham’s Shane Finnigan couldn’t crack a smile. Despite another dazzling display for the righty that led to a playoff victory at home, the ultra-experienced flamethrower knows that this is just one step of hopefully many in the program’s quest of another deep playoff run.
Finnigan completely stifled the Arlington lineup in a 5-0 thrashing in the Section 1 Class AAA semifinals at home on Friday afternoon, May 22. With the semifinals being a double-elimination bracket, the No. 1 seed Storm still have to win one more contest to reach the finals but confidence should be riding high after the win. The righty ultimately went 6.1 innings on the bump, allowing just one hit and striking out seven in the process.
“Shane Finnigan is just a bulldog out there and he was able to put the team on his back after some mistakes and really give us the opportunity,” Pat Mealy, the head coach of Ketcham said after the win. “He’s been coming through his whole career like that.”
Looking deeper than just the box score, Finnigan’s performance was even more impressive than the final line read. A team and program that prides itself on consistency and success in all areas of the game, the Storm defense made some uncharacteristic fielding mistakes early in the contest.
This led the senior to face trouble with multiple runners on base in a couple of innings with the game still deadlocked early. Momentum could’ve significantly shifted for Arlington as the road underdogs looking to steal a win over the top seed in the bracket.
Instead, Finnigan locked in each and every time to get out of the jams. Using his pure talent and wealth of experience in big moments, it was no shock to see him work through the scary situations with zeroes on the board.
“I have the most confidence in Shane. The only person who has more confidence in Shane is himself,” Mealy noted. “He doesn’t shy away from big moments and I’m just hoping we can carry that into some at-bats from the rest of the guys when they see him battling.”
Although slightly delayed, the bats did eventually come alive. Being blanked for the first three frames of the afternoon, Ketcham responded with five runs in the fourth and fifth innings combined to jump out to a significant lead.
Ensley Perez and Giancarlo Henry both recorded massive two-out RBI hits to help break the game open with the rest of the lineup getting in on the action with smart hitting approaches at the plate. Expectations and pressure rise in the playoffs, something the Storm are certainly no strangers to as four-time defending Section 1 Class AAA champions.
“I’m going to be honest, I think that in the first few innings, we were certainly pressing. You could see that we had some defensive swings. Once we got a runner to second base, we were able to play with much more confidence at the plate,” Mealy said regarding the slow start. “The second time through our order is not an easy task. We are prepared and they were ready, we put some great at-bats when it mattered.”
Although every postseason win is the most important win at the time, this one certainly might’ve meant a little more for Ketcham. Although the Storm once again ran rampant through most of the regular season schedule, No. 4 seed Arlington was the one team in the league to stun Ketcham with a 6-4 victory back on April 27.
With the bracket being double-elimination at this point, the two programs still potentially have the chance to meet back up in the finals if they continue winning from this point on.
“Arlington is still a really good baseball team, taking nothing away from them. They are tough up-and-down the lineup, they field well and they have some arms,” Mealy said, throwing praise towards the Admirals program. “They’re a great program and we just got on the better side of the game today.”
Moving forward, Ketcham will host Mamaroneck this upcoming Tuesday in the winners bracket with the chance to clinch their spot in the section finals. Like Arlington though, the Tigers have already beaten the Storm this season with a 4-2 victory all the way back on April 7.
The Admirals, on the other hand, will host Scarsdale on the same day, looking to keep their season alive.
This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: Shane Finnigan blanks Arlington in shutout to secure Ketcham’s semifinal win
Reporting by Eric Decker, Poughkeepsie Journal / Poughkeepsie Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
