Heading into the New York State Class A regional baseball championship a couple weeks back, Liam Correa was carrying more than just the pressure of attempting to reach the state final four. The stakes of the moment were tough enough, let alone the self-admitted demons he and the Marlboro program were trying to conquer.
Presumed curses are an unescapable aspect of sports. Breaking them makes the victory that much sweeter.
After losing in the regional title game each of the previous two seasons while being on the mound for both, Correa vanquished the “curse” after pitching the Dukes to a 4-3 win over Byram Hills at Cantine Field at the Class A championship in Saugerties.
Six days later, the Dukes ultimately lost a 7-0 decision to Plainedge in the state semifinals. Despite the bitter finish, it was a run that the program will never forget. Marlboro entered the postseason as the No. 7 seed in the Section 9 Class A playoffs before going on its postseason win streak.
“We beat Byram Hills in the regional final and went to states, we were all just in disbelief. We knew we could do it but it was just such a crazy thing,” Correa said in an interview with the Poughkeepsie Journal. “We were such underdogs, it was a crazy experience.”
Consistently crediting the team as a whole, Correa shined individually at every stage of the postseason. The lefty tossed a complete-game shutout in the Section 9 Championship win over Beacon before once again going the distance in the regional championship. Being in the spotlight on the mound for each of the losses in the previous two seasons, it meant that much more for the junior to finally get over the hump.
“I didn’t live in the past,” he said. “We didn’t let that regional game bother us. It’s just another game of baseball at the end of the day. I didn’t really know how to feel after because it was just so shocking, we just overcame that. I just kept playing as hard as I could and it was just super exciting.”
The postseason turnaround didn’t appear possible only several weeks before.
At one point this spring, Marlboro sat with a 5-10 record after struggling out of the gates. Correa admitted that the team didn’t even really think they were going to even clinch a playoff spot at all. He and others during the postseason pointed to the fact that the team’s bats started to get hot, leading to clutch victories along the way. More importantly to Correa, though, was the internal belief within the team that it was capable of so much more.
“That was our rock bottom and that just really encouraged us that we have to really work hard. To keep training and stop messing around,” the junior said. “We knew that once playoffs started that we had to focus up and do the right thing … we luckily turned it on at the right time and got hot at the end of the season when it mattered.”
On the field, the belief and determination came to life and ultimately led to the improbable run. In order for that to happen, the same sentiment needed to resonate from the dugout. Without strong leadership at the top, the will of the group could have broken. Dukes coach John Morrissey, in his 10th year at the helm, was never going to let that happen.
“He just told us that we really needed to focus up and take things seriously,” Correa said. “Practice harder, train harder. Coach Morrissey improved a lot of our game just by the reps in practice. He kept us there mentally. He just really improved our mental game, kept us strong and didn’t let us give up at any time.”
Now, they turn the page to 2027, which can arrive faster than those involved expect. Having just one senior on this year’s team, Brayden Soma, the Dukes are set to bring back nearly every single member of the state final four team. Expectations are going to be sky-high once next spring comes around, but after the ups and downs of this run, Correa and his teammates know it’s far from a guarantee to repeat the success.
The focus and preparation are going to have to meet the expectations. As Correa sees it, the Dukes are ready for that.
“We’re going into next year super confident, not overconfident,” he said, discussing the need to stay humble and continue to think of themselves as underdogs in a sense. “We talk about it a good amount, how we have a ton of potential next year, just like we did this year … we’re all still practicing and training together. We still have that chemistry there and we’re not going to break out.”
If Marlboro reaches this stage next year, it’ll almost certainly be Correa taking the mound once again. After conquering the ghosts of years past, he and the rest of the Dukes now know what it takes to get over the hump and break through.
This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: Marlboro star pitcher reflects on run to New York Class A final four
Reporting by Eric Decker, Poughkeepsie Journal / Poughkeepsie Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Eric Decker, Poughkeepsie Journal | USA TODAY Network
