By Kyle Soppe
GENEVA, N.Y. — It’s gone. The 14 game win streak, the lead that they held for the entire game, their lead in this best of 3 series. All are gone, and the season for both the Webster Yankees and Geneva Red Wings now comes down to tonight’s game three at Webster’s Basket Road Stadium.
Game two played out as a pitcher’s duel, as was expected by most. Webster Yankee ace Joe Greenfield toed the rubber against Tim Cooney of Geneva. Both pitchers opened with 2 scoreless frames, without much of a threat either way. The Yankees struck as Nick Flemister drove the Cooney offering into the right field gap, scoring Dan Bick, with two outs in the top of the third.
A late addition to this year’s roster, Flemister has been the most prolific hitter in the NYCBL since the all star break.
After Luis Diaz reached on an error, cleanup hitter Jake Montgomery singled on a line drive to left field, scoring Flemister, and moving the Yankees advantage to 2-0.
The Red Wings, however, wasted no time in responding. Leon Stimpson, the Red Wings leading hitter, blooped a single over the outstretched arm of Greenfield. With Max Casper batting, Stimpson stole second base standing up, making him the first runner in scoring position for Geneva. Casper quickly cashed in on the run scoring opportunity, delivering an RBI single on a well-hit ball to centerfield.
That was all the scoring that they could muster, and both pitchers worked in and out of trouble for the next few innings.
The next scoring chance was in the bottom of the seventh inning for the home team. With Greenfield’s pitch count rising, a patient Geneva lineup took a selective approach. A strikeout of Jake Chaplin led off the inning, but two infield singles followed, and put the Yanks in danger of losing the lead that they had held since the third inning. A wild pitch advanced both runners into scoring position with only one out, and left Greenfield in a position to limit the damage of the inning, and he did just that. He induced a ground ball hit sharply to first base, freezing the runners, and forcing them to retreat to their bases. A routine grounder from Scott Shields ended the threat, and it felt as if the Yankees had regained the momentum.
That is, until the 8th inning.
Nearing the 100 pitch mark, the Yankees staff decided to roll the dice with their ace, and send Greenfield back to the mound for the eighth inning.
“We wanted to ride Joe as long as we could, he was pitching well” said Head Coach Dave Brust of the decision.
Due up was the top of Geneva lineup, getting their fourth look at the Yankee righty. A pop out from Stimpson was the ideal start for Webster, and they appeared poised to finish off this game. But Max Casper had different ideas, and battled his way on base with a single after a 12-pitch marathon at-bat.
A meeting on the mound would follow, but the Yanks workhorse remained in the game.
Kevin Knack ran the count full on Greenfield before drawing a walk, and Greenfield’s night was over, with his fate in the hands of the bullpen.
Connor Sullivan was brought in to face the Red Wing’s hottest hitter of late, Evan Mansell. On the 2-1 pitch, Mansell grounded a ball up the middle, a success considering the recent power surge from Geneva cleanup hitter. A nice diving stop by Kevin Johnson kept the ball on the infield, and Bick was able to recover and record the force out at second base.
With runners on the corners and two outs, the game was on the line. The heart of the Wings’ lineup coming to bat, and it was unlikely that they would see another opportunity like this. Hitless on the day, but a .300 hitter on the season, Jake Chaplin stepped in and didn’t allow the pressure to build. The first baseman lined a two-run triple into the right field gap sending the Geneva crowd into a frenzy.
They added a fourth run on a Sullivan balk and on a night where offense was hard to come by, that was all they needed.
After pitching a scoreless eighth inning, Trevor Gast set the Yankees down in order, to earn the win.
Joe Greenfield got a no decision despite 7.1 effective innings, while Sullivan suffered the blown save and loss.
“Timely hitting. They got it, and we didn’t. I would say the magic number of runs to get in order to win is 4 or 5. We scored twice tonight, you have to pitch nearly perfectly to win with 2 runs,” stated Coach Brust after the disappointing lost.
The manager was obviously dissatisfied with the result of the game, but maintained a positive outlook as did the rest of the coaching staff. A short memory will be crucial, as the Webster Yankees must put this difficult loss behind them, and look forward to today’s decisive game three.
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