Hard-yston to handle

HARDySTON - Everything Wallkill Valley's Tommy Babcock has been doing all year may flown faster under the radar than a Bobby Gagg fastball. But the quite right fielder can hide no more, as he gunned down the go-ahead run at the plate and stroked the game-winning single, helping the Rangers capture their first ever sectional title, 1-0 over Pequannock. "He was a kid waiting to erupt," said Gagg, the game's winning pitcher. "Tommie is the quietest kid on the team, but he has been making big plays all year." With a man on second and one out in the top of the fourth, Gagg (eight strikeouts) yielded a sharp single to right. Babcock unleashed a perfect throw to catcher Cody Herbert, who applied the tag to keep the game scoreless. "If the kid was going to try to score, I knew he was going to be dead." said Babcock. "It took a perfect hop and I wanted to help Bobby out." The Rangers looked as if they would break the stranglehold in the bottom of the fifth, when J.J. Conrad and Mike Sudol lined a pair of one-out singles. Herbert would walk to load the bases for Gagg, who proceeded to pop the first pitch up to second base. Vin Gengaro struck out looking to end the threat. Leading off the home half of the seventh, Haughtaling lined a lead-off double to right center. But the Rangers looked as if they would squander another chance to take the lead as the next two batters were retired. Except Babcock didn't see it that way. His clutch liner over second scored Houghtaling easily and moved Gagg three outs away from the elusive title. The Coastal-Carolina bound senior retired the side in order, including a strikeout of Ryan Schoonmaker to end the game. "I couldn't have written the script any better," said Gagg. "We shut down one of the best teams in the state. We are not a team of all-stars, but nobody plays better as a team than us." Conrad says an article printed in a Morris County newspaper in which Pequannock hitters dared Gagg to pitch to them added fuel to their fire. "I have been waiting four years for this," said Conrad. But his school had been waiting forever.