Kendall set to begin state playoff competition against Gowanda in Regional on Saturday

Photo by Cheryl Wertman – Kendall’s CJ D’Agostino, shown here diving back to first place during the state qualifier win over Geneseo, and his Eagle teammates will face Gowanda in the Class C Far West Regional on Saturday morning at Dwyer Stadium.

Set to make just the school’s second appearance in the state baseball playoffs, Section V champion Kendall will face Section VI champion Gowanda in the Class C Far West Regional at 11 a.m. Saturday at Dwyer Stadium in Batavia.

The victor will advance to the state semifinals next Friday in Binghamton.

Kendall, whose only previous trip to the state playoffs was in 1999, brings a 23-1 record into the Regional while Gowanda is 20-3.

Kendall advanced to the state playoffs by first defeating Genesee Valley-Belfast 6-0 for the Section V Class C2 championship and then edging C1 champion Geneseo 5-4 in the Section V state qualifier.

Gowanda earned a spot in the Regional by blanking Frewsburg 3-0 in the Section VI title contest.

Senior Gavin Braun and junior Nic Cole have shared the bulk of the pitching duties for the Eagles this season with senior Colby Hughes at catcher, sophomore CJ D’Agostino at first base, junior Jonny Conte at second, junior Vinnie D’Agostino at shortstop and freshman Sammy Conte at third with juniors Jonas Rhodes and Mikey Colucci and senior Gio Rodriguez in the outfield. Eighth grader Andrew D’Agostino took over the catching chores and sophomore Jacob Abrams played right field in the state qualifier game when the Eagles three seniors were away on a senior class trip. The Eagles roster also includes junior Adrian Bucco and freshman Andrew Cole.

Kendall’s 1999 squad defeated Frewsburg 4-0 in the Far West Regional but then dropped a 9-3 decision to Greenwich in the state semifinals.