Russo fans 11 as Valley Central clinches Section 9 playoff berth
Russo's complete game and 11 strikeouts gave Valley Central a 2-1 win over Goshen and sealed the Vikings' Section 9 Class AA berth.
Darren Russo turned Valley Central’s late-season pressure into a playoff ticket.
The senior right-hander went the distance, scattered four hits, allowed one earned run and struck out 11 as the Vikings edged Goshen 2-1 on May 19 at Valley Central High School in Montgomery. The win came in the penultimate game of the regular season and clinched Valley Central’s place in the Section 9 Class AA playoffs, giving the program the breathing room it had been chasing down the stretch in Orange County.
Russo controlled the game from start to finish, matching Goshen pitch for pitch in a one-run contest that left little margin for error. Valley Central needed exactly that kind of outing, one that kept the game in hand and let the offense do just enough. Mason McDonald supplied the key support at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a run, a double and an RBI in the victory.
The result mattered well beyond one night in the Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association Division II schedule. Goshen, another county program with postseason hopes of its own, pushed Valley Central through a tense finish to the regular season, and the Vikings answered with one of their sharpest performances of the year. It was Valley Central’s closest victory since May 16, 2025, a sign of how tightly contested the game was and how much was riding on it.
That win also positioned the Vikings for Section 9’s bracket, which placed Valley Central as the No. 5 seed in Class AA and matched it with No. 4 FDR in the semifinal round. Section 9’s baseball brackets were released May 21, with the semifinals set for May 28 and the championship scheduled for May 30 at Cantine Field in Saugerties.
Valley Central entered that postseason picture with a mix of production and identity. Russo led the team with 58 strikeouts, Gerald Urbaez paced the lineup with a .312 batting average and a .433 on-base percentage, Justin Freeman led with two home runs and Jake Cancredi finished atop the stolen-base list with 10. The numbers point to a team that did not cruise into Section 9, but earned its way in with enough pitching and timely hitting to make it a dangerous out in a crowded Orange County field.
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