THE EMPIRE STATE’S NEW KING: GV/Belfast coach Dennis Miles stands alone as New York’s all-time winningest baseball coach following 5-1 victory over Eldred at Heritage Field

[PHOTOS BY JOHN ANDERSON]

BRONX — Alicia Keys has noted on several different occasions that New York is a concrete jungle where dreams are made of. The streets will make you feel brand new, and the big lights will inspire you. The iconic skyline of the Big Apple helped set the scene for Spring Break — a destination that the Genesee Valley/Belfast baseball team took by storm beginning this past weekend.

With some time being spent away from home for most of the week, the opportunity to play and bask in the game of baseball came with it.

Hours before they went full gallop across the street to see the New York Yankees start a three-game series with the Kansas City Royals, there was business to attend to at Heritage Field — the old Yankee Stadium. Another day at the office for Genesee Valley/Belfast.

But it wasn’t just any normal day-to-day business. This was of immense magnitude.

History was hanging in the balance.

After a 12-0 victory over Jasper-Troupsburg back on Saturday that allowed him to stand side-by-side with former Fort Plain head coach Craig Phillips, the magic number was soon reduced down to one. One to cement a Baseball Hall-of-Fame legacy that will forever be remembered as the greatest ever.

Immediately following their Monday afternoon matinee in the Bronx, and to quote Old Blue Eyes himself, Dennis Miles was a number one.

Top of the list.

King of the hill.

A number one.

Behind an absolutely superb outing from starting pitcher Ethan Davenport, the longtime skipper was not going to be denied history any longer. In a victory that propelled Genesee Valley/Belfast towards a 5-0 start, it also proceeded to unlock baseball immortality for Miles, as he officially surpassed the long time Fort Plains coach as New York State Baseball’s All-Time Winningest head coach in history, collecting his 807th career victory from within a 5-1 win over Section IX’s Eldred.

“It feels good. It’s been a long journey, but a really exciting one,” said Miles. “Through baseball, I’ve been blessed to meet so many people and have the opportunity to touch the lives of thousands throughout my career. I’ve been very, very blessed, and it’s something that I don’t take lightly. I wouldn’t have this opportunity to set out and accomplish this if it wasn’t for the game of baseball. Who knew when we had those two, three cancellations at the beginning of the season that it would lead up to this game right here across from Yankee Stadium. Not to diminish any of the honor of this achievement and what it means, and there’s so many people that played a role in this over the years, but now we can really focus on the rest of the season ahead with this out of the way.”

Genesee Valley/Belfast (5-0) answered the call in the first three innings of play against Eldred following a quick outing across the first inning, as they scored the game’s lone run in the bottom of the second before the Yellowjackets responded with one of their own in the third to level the playing surface once again.

But the response provided by the team in black was doubled insurmountably, as they took the lead for good behind a big two-run sequence in the bottom half of the third. The lead was held firmly intact by the defense on the field, led by the pitching prowess of Ethan Davenport, who went five strong innings behind 14 strikeouts and four walks.

Ryan Daciw then approached the rubber and delivered two solid outings of relief, striking out four to cap off a dominant pitching display by Genesee Valley/Belfast.

“Once again, we got strong pitching. You have to be pleased with 18 combined strikeouts out of 21 possible outs. They seemed to be on Ethan’s fast ball early, and they played to that a bit,” said Miles. “We went to the breaking balls, which was great from him. He hasn’t really had a strong one in the past, and we’ve worked on it for three months, and it’s made all the difference in the world. Because we had to go to that, it was too full. He was working on that for the future. His control was a little off with the four walks, but Ryan (Daciw) came in to help shut the door later on.”

The Genesee Valley/Belfast offense totaled five runs off eight hits, with Davenport and Nolan Hunter leading the way with two hits each, with Hunter driving in a pair of runs and Davenport scoring twice. Rounding off the knocks were Daciw, Derek Calanni and Ben Cater, all having a hit apiece.

Coming up this weekend, Genesee Valley/Belfast will get back to work in the Jungle in Belmont, as they welcome in the Franklinville Panthers for an 11 a.m. first pitch on Saturday.

Eldred 001 000 0 – 1 2 1

Genesee Valley/Belfast 012 002 X – 5 7 0

ELD – Adam Tice (LP) (CG, 7K, 4BB) and Jake May.

GVB – Ethan Davenport (WP) (14K, 4BB), Ryan Daciw (6) (4K) and Damon Davis.