By Paul Casey Gotham
WEBSTER, N.Y. — Another day and another win in the last at-bat for the Webster Yankees. And a familiar surname again takes the honors.
Ben Bostick (St. John Fisher) dropped a two-out, bases-loaded bunt down the first base line, and Nick Flemister scampered home as Webster came from behind in extra innings to defeat the Alfred Thunder, 6-5 in New York Collegiate Baseball League action at Basket Road on Tuesday night.
“It wasn’t called,” Bostick said when asked if head coach Dave Brust signalled for the bunt. “I saw the infield was playing back. I thought it was worth the chance. We tried to squeeze the winning run home a couple batters earlier, but the pitches weren’t in the strike zone.”
Bostick’s hit, his third of the night, capped a five-run comeback as the Webster nine won for the seventh consecutive time.
Trailing by three in the fourth, the pinstripes scratched a run across the dish.
Jake Montgomery (Young Harris) started the rally with a one-out single to center field. Tyler Huntey (Central Michigan) moved the runner with a base hit to left field. After Huntey was gunned down in a double steal, Flemister plated the run with a triple to center field.
Alfred stretched its lead to 5-1 before the Yanks answered in the seventh.
With two outs, Corey Goeggleman (Waynesburg St.) reached on an infield error. Dan Bick (Georgia College) singled to left, and Goeggleman went station to station. Bostick cleared the bases with a triple to deep center field.
“It looked like a fast ball away. That’s where I like it,” Bostick explained. “I was trying to not get greedy because we needed baserunners. It felt like it was a check swing, but I got it on the good part of the bat. I saw the outfielder going back, and I knew it was good.”
Webster tied the game in the eighth.
Chris Bostick (Aquinas Institute) led with a base on balls. Montgomery reached on an infield single. One-out later, Flemister brought home the younger Bostick with a single to left. Montgomery came home when Kevin Johnson (Pittsburgh) grounded into a fielder’s choice.
Cameron Schooley (Ball State) tossed three shutout innings for the win. Ryan Wilkinson (Toledo) struck out two and walked two in seven frames.
Ben Bostick and Flemister led the offense with three hits each. Bostick drove in three. Montgomery and Huntey each rapped a pair of hits.
The Yankees improved to 24-14 with the win and increased their lead in the NYCBL West Division by a half-game over idle Niagara with six games remaining.
“It’s coming around,” said Brust of his team’s recent success. “We’ve had five of seven weeks in league play where we have been in first or second.”
Brust went on to explain the role of his coaching staff – Bob Shaffer, Ollie Bertrand and Ryan Sullivan.
“It’s a blessing to have this staff,” Brust commented. “We are a young team, and a lot of our leadership comes from in the dugout.”
Bertrand played the last two seasons for the Yankees earning all-league honors and guiding the team from behind the plate to the playoffs last season.
“Ollie is just like when he was playing,” Brust noted. “He takes charge. He has worked out a system to call pitches, so we can use when needed.”
Brust went on to explain the formal instruction given by his staff during pre-game meetings with pitchers and catchers.
“We pick a theme of the day. Sometimes, we discuss bunting and driving the ball the other way. Other days we will work on baserunning.”
The persistence is paying off with Webster nine leading the division for the first time this late in the season.
Chris Bostick supplied the winning hit in Tuesday’s night victory. The younger Bostick, who was the 44th pick by the Oakland Athletics in the recent MLB Draft, bounced a single down the third base line with two outs in the tenth as Webster trimmed Geneva 8-7.
The Yankees have three games on the road before returning home Sunday for a 3 p.m. matinee against the Hornell Dodgers.
The New York Collegiate Baseball League is a summer wood bat league sanctioned by the NCAA and partially funded by MLB. Each of the players on the field in front of you have used at least one year of eligibility and have at least one year of college eligibility remaining. Major League Baseball’s 2010 amateur draft included the names of 36 players with ties to the NYCBL. In the last three drafts 112 former NYCBLers have heard their names called. Current major leaguers Brad Lidge, Dallas Braden and Hunter Pence have all spent at least one summer playing in the NYCBL.
The NYCBL – sending players to the pros since 1978!
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