In this 21st century, Trumansburg baseball has been one of the premier programs in the area. Rarely have the Blue Raiders finished with a losing record and missed out on the Section IV tournament during the 32 years under head coach Scott Voorhees. One thing they hadn’t been able to achieve during this millennium was making a trip to the New York State tournament.
But there was something special about this team to end the drought.
For the first time since 1999, the Blue Raiders punched their ticket to states after taking down Unatego/Franklin 9-5 in the Section IV Class C championship on May 29 at Susquehanna Valley High School. While their last sectional title was in 2021, the state tournament was not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Blue Raiders had been awfully close to a sectional crown in the previous two seasons. In 2024, they were no-hit in the championship game by Unatego/Franklin’s Braeden Johnson, who’s now pitching at Cornell. Last year, Deposit-Hancock got the better of the Blue Raiders in their first year moving up to Class C. But this year’s group was able to make amends for their prior shortcomings.
“We’ve been super, super focused in practice and in the games,” said senior Willoughby Puryear. “We’re really playing every inning like it’s our last out. It’s our last chance to play all together, especially the core group of seniors. We’ve played together since we’re like 10 years old, and it’s really special to us to play together for as long as we can. It’s really just giving it our all and playing like we need to win.”
Puryear is one of five seniors on the Blue Raiders, along with Aidan Clarke-Cabezas, Eamon Herman, Anthony Muro, and Connor Sherwood. Of those 12th-graders, Puryear and Clarke-Cabezas were the only ones who were part of those back-to-back sectional final defeats. In their case, the third time was the charm.
“It’s been amazing,” Puryear said. “It’s what I’ve dreamed of since I was a freshman here, and we’ve been close for a lot of years. The past two years [we were] in the championship but couldn’t get the win, and this year finally we did. It’s really just been a dream come true.”
Clarke-Cabezas had the biggest hit of the championship game against the Spartan-Devils. With the bases loaded and with two outs in the fourth inning, he cleared the bases with a double to give the Blue Raiders a 6-3 advantage. They would not relinquish the lead en route to a 9-5 victory.
But in the two games prior to the championship, it was Puryear who shined the brightest for Trumansburg. In the quarterfinals against Delhi, he hit a home run and allowed one unearned run through five innings on the mound. The semifinals against Union Springs was even more dominant, going yard again while tossing a complete-game shutout with 18 strikeouts. Those were his final two home games of his high school career, and he made the most of those opportunities despite some pre-game jitters.
“Knowing both those sectional games were here, I just had a lot of nerves,” Puryear said. “I knew what the games meant. Going into them, I was just super focused, and a lot of good things happened.”
Puryear had been limited this season pitching-wise due to a back injury but was healthy enough to provide two masterclasses in sectionals. He was also the Blue Raiders’ top hitter with a team-high .529 batting average, 32 hits, six home runs, and 40 runs scored. This year was the culmination of all the hard work he put in over the years for Blue Raiders baseball.
“For the most part I’ve gotten a lot stronger,” Puryear said. “I’ve always been a solid baseball player on both sides of the field, offense and defense. But [it’s] a lot of work in the weight room and then a lot of hitting work and a bit of defensive work too, a lot of work on my speed as well. That’s gotten a lot better. It’s mainly just weight room stuff that has helped me a ton.”
Trumansburg’s first state tournament game in 27 years took place back at Susquehanna Valley against Section III champions Beaver River on June 2. The Blue Raiders made an early statement with another Puryear solo home run in the first inning and maintained a 1-0 lead through two innings. But the Beavers’ bats soon exploded as they ran away with a 14-1 victory. Trumansburg finishes the campaign with a 18-5 record.
Despite a tough ending, the Blue Raiders can look back upon fondly as the year when they finally got over the hump. With plenty of key pieces returning next year and a JV team that just won the IAC championship, they have every right to make their presence in the state tournament a regular occurrence.
