By Paul Casey Gotham
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Twelve teams competed for 44 games over two months. Six teams qualified for the playoffs. Two teams remain for a best-of-three series.
The 2011 New York Collegiate Baseball League Championship is on the line when the Oneonta Outlaws and the Webster Yankees meet at Basket Road Field tonight for game one of the series.
Oneonta finished the regular season in second place of the NYCBL East Division with a record of 29-15. They defeated the Rome Thunderbolts 5-4 in a one-game playoff before sweeping the Utica Brewers 5-4 and 7-1.
Webster claimed the top spot in the NYCBL West Division and outlasted the Geneva Red Wings to advance to the finals. Matt Jimenez (Mercyhurst) and Jasvir Rakkar (Stony Brook) combined to allow two runs on six hits as Webster defeated the Geneva, 5-2 in game one. Nick Flemister (Clark) paced a 13-hit attack, and Ryan Wilkinson (Toledo) battled for the win as Webster took the decisive game by the same score of 5-2.
Bryan Galligan (Stonehill) will make his eighth start of the season for the Outlaws. He is 4-1 with an ERA of 1.97. In 45-plus innings of work Galligan has fanned 32 and walked 26.
Bryan Tatelman (Stony Brook) gets the ball for Dave Brust’s Webster nine. The righty will make his third start and 13th appearance for the pinstripes. He is 2-0 in his starts. In 26 frames of work Tatelman has 26 strike outs and 24 walks.
John Howell (Binghamton) leads the Oneonta offense hitting .373 with 22 walks and 34 runs scored. The Outlaws have stolen 79 bases while being caught 32 times.
Nick Flemister (Clark) paces the Webster bats. The Pittsford, New York native is hitting .468. Kevin Johnson (Pittsburgh) has driven in 24 for the Webster nine. Yankee runners have 97 swipes while being nabbed on just 29 occasions.
Oneonta went 4-0 against the West taking a pair at Hornell and sweeping a home-and-home with Geneva. The Outlaws hammered Geneva pitching for ten runs on July 10th.
Webster took three of four from the East sweeping a doubleheader at Utica while splitting a pair with Rome.
Oneonta won the champiosnhip in 2006 when the organization ws known as the Saratoga Phillies.
This is Webster’s first trip to the NYCBL finals.
Four former Outlaws were taken in this year’s MLB draft: Mark Lamm (Atlanta-6th round), Eric Potter (Oakland-19th), Dennis O’Grady (Atlanta-34th) and Matt Tomshaw (Minnesota-42nd).
Webster has had seven draft picks in the organization’s history. The Chicago Cubs took Jordon Herr (’06) in the 2007 draft and Jordan Petraitis (’06) in the 2008 and 2009 drafts. The Cincinnati Reds chose Bryan Gardner in 2008 while the Atlanta Braves plucked Cory Brownsten and Dan Jurik in 2009. Chris Bostick was chosen by the Oakland in this year’s draft and signed a contract with the club just last week. Current Yankee, Jake Montgomery (Young Harris) was also chosen by the Braves in the 2oo9 draft.
Tonight’s first pitch is scheduled for 7 pm.
Do they still sell food there?
Food aplenty.
As I recall, the lobster was excellent there, paired with a Pino Grigio.
Indeed!