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Red Storm advance to Class B semis

Saranac Lake’s Kaden Darrah, right, and Noah Munn (0) celebrate after the team’s 15-3 playoff win over the AuSable Valley Patriots on Thursday. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

SARANAC LAKE – The Saranac Lake baseball team has been on a tear as of late and there doesn’t appear to be any signs of them slowing down.

Having just closed out the regular season with its ninth win in a row one day prior, the Red Storm extended its win streak to 10 in the first round of the Section VII, Class B playoffs on Thursday with a 15-3 victory over the AuSable Valley Patriots.

Senior pitcher Jon Kratts led the way for Saranac Lake on both the mound and at the plate on Thursday, helping advance his team to the Class B semifinals.

“We’re rolling. I don’t know the record books — and I don’t really care — but 10 in a row is impressive for anybody,” Red Storm head coach Bryan Munn said. “For us, it’s big. We’ve plucked away. We’ve beat some good teams.”

The Red Storm got out to a quick 6-0 lead on their home diamond and added one more in the second and eight in the sixth. Saranac Lake finished with 15 hits in the game.

Saranac Lake’s Jon Kratts pitches during Thursday’s Section VII, Class B playoff game against AuSable Valley in Saranac Lake. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

Meanwhile, Kratts turned in a complete-game performance that featured no earned runs with eight strikeouts and just three hits and three walks allowed.

“We strung some hits together,” Munn said. “A couple of good innings with a lot of good runs. It got us to where we want to be.”

Saranac Lake, the number three seed in the Class B playoffs, advances to the semifinal round with the win. They will play the second-seeded Plattsburgh Hornets in a contest that will take place Monday at Plattsburgh High School starting at 4:30 p.m.

“This has been our goal all season,” Munn said, “and we’re one win away from the championship. That’s our goal.”

Saranac Lake started off the game by loading up the bases from a double, a single and a walk before quickly taking the lead on a two-run single from senior first-baseman Kaden Darrah.

Saranac Lake’s Nick Munn attempts to make a double play with AuSable Valley’s Scott LaMountain raising his hands during Thursday’s playoff game. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

Kratts extended the lead with a two-run single, before he and another Red Storm baserunner scored two more runs shortly after to make the game 6-0 after the bottom of the first. Kratts also picked up another RBI in the second inning.

Trailing 7-0 in the top of the fifth inning, AuSable Valley scored its first run of the game after two baserunners reached on errors, with one scoring on a past ball. After Kratts walked the next batter, the Patriots’ Scott LaMountain knocked in two runs on a single, drawing his team within four.

Despite coming up empty in its next at-bat, the Red Storm were able to turn the tide back to their dugout when Kratts struckout three Patriots batters in the top of the sixth.

“That’s what got us back on the right track,” Munn said. “We were a little stall for the middle part of the game and I think those three runs woke us up. Jonny coming in and getting those three strikeouts got the momentum back on our side.”

Kratts delivered the big blow in the Red Storm’s fifth inning with a three-run home run and after Saranac Lake brought in three more runs, Zyler Strack closed out the scoring barrage with a two run double on a ball that hit off the right field fence.

Saranac Lake’s Jon Kratts, center, celebrates with his teammates after hitting a homerun in the bottom of the sixth inning of Thursday’s playoff game. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

“These guys have been doing that all year. When we need to get the big hit or when we need to get the big runs we’ve delivered,” Munn said. “Hopefully we can keep that rolling. It was a huge inning from Jonny and Zyler.”

Strack and Darrah led Saranac Lake with three hits each. Kratts, Noah Munn and Evan Willett recorded two hits apiece. The Red Storm had 10 batters step up to the plate and all 10 were able to reach base at least once.

AuSable Valley’s Konnor Facteau recorded two hits, while LaMountain had their team’s other hit on Thursday. Facteau earned the loss on the mound, pitching 5 2/3 innings, while striking out four.

The Patriots finished their season with a record of 2-13 and the Red Storm improved to 12-3 overall with the win.

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