By Lori Chase
@LChase_RA
St. BONAVENTURE — The Olean Oilers are the new kids on the block in the New York Collegiate Baseball League’s Western Division, but if early results are any indication, they might just be one of the teams to beat this season.
On a hot, sunny Sunday afternoon at Fred Handler Park, the expansion Oilers battled back from a late-inning deficit for the second game in a row, plating three runs in the bottom of the seventh to erase a 3-2 Wellsville lead and holding on for a 5-3 decision over the Nitros. Olean improved to 5-2 with the win, a half-game ahead of the Geneva Twins for the division lead.
“It’s good to see the guys are capable of doing that,” Olean coach Bobby Bell said following his team’s third straight victory. “I know we were on a little pattern, win-lose-win-lose, and then we got out of it. But it was good to see that even though we got down and it looked like we were going to get back to that pattern, the guys could fight back and really come from behind and shut the door.
“Timely hitting,” he added with a smile, returning to an oft-repeated theme. “That’s what we needed. It worked out good today.”
After Wellsville scored three runs off Olean starter Mike Tolsma in the top of the sixth to take the lead, Oilers right fielder Pat Welsh (Marist) led off the bottom of the seventh by sending a ball into the left-field corner, then stretching it to two when the Nitros dropped the throw into second base. Seth Heck (Tacoma CC) followed with a bunt single to put runners at first and third, and pinch-hitter Adam Urschel (Erie CC) tied the game with a double that bounced just inside the chalk down the right-field line, though Heck was out at the plate trying to follow Welsh home.
Brian Dixon (Monroe CC) popped up to third for the second out, bringing up shortstop Joe Pantano (Erie CC), who leads the Olean hit parade with a sizzling .552 average – “I don’t know what he’s doing, but he’s got to keep doing it,” Bell said with a grin – and had already singled twice and scored a run. Unwilling to take the chance that Pantano would burn them again, Nitros coach Frank Jagoda decided to call for an intentional walk.
Unfortunately for Wellsville, that brought Jon Kemmer to the plate. The Oilers left fielder – who hasn’t exactly been in a slump himself, batting .393 and leading the team in RBIs – delivered again, ripping a 2-1 pitch to the fence in left-center for a standup double to score both baserunners. Mike Scarcello (Buffalo) struck out to end the inning, but the damage was done.
“It’s a tough situation,” Jagoda said. “The leading hitter in the league coming up in Pantano, who is obviously one of the better hitters in the league. We made the decision to walk him to get to Kemmer, who adjusted and had a great at-bat. That’s baseball.”
What was Kemmer thinking as he watched Pantano jog to first base?
“I’m going to be honest, I’ve never been intentionally walked to get to me before, so that was a new thing,” the Clarion senior said. “Almost a little bit of determination there – I really felt like I needed to get that hit there and I needed to really bring the team together.”
Staked to a two-run lead, reliever Zach Machmer (Medaille) gave up a walk and a single in the top of the eighth before Bell made the move to Cody Petre (Monroe CC). Another free pass loaded the bases with one out, but a 4-6-3 twin killing – the second of the game – ended the threat and the Nitros went down in order in the ninth for Petre’s third save of the season.
“I preach our defense to these guys all the time. I know I say a lot about the timely hitting, but our defense, I think, is definitely one of the best in the league if not the best,” Bell said of his double-play combo. “It’s not a surprise to me, and it looks really smooth out there. So that’s nice.”
Machmer allowed one hit, walked one batter and hit another in 1.2 innings of work to pick up the win in relief of Mike Tolsma. The Oilers starter gave up just five hits and struck out three, but walked eight before leaving one out into the sixth.
“Little shorter rest than normal, so he was out there doing a heck of a job, but he had a little bit of trouble with the walks,” Bell said. “Not giving up any hits, but some days it’s too hot and some days you just don’t have it. Sometimes the mound’s a little different … But he did a good job for us. He got done what he needed to get done, and we had Zach coming in and then Cody.”
For Jagoda, an assistant coach at Canisius, watching Tolsma was a preview of next spring when the lefty will join the Golden Griffins.
“He competes. That’s two starts in a row he came out here and gave them a quality start,” he said. “I think he throws the ball really well and commands the zone. I think he’s going to be a quality arm to add to our staff at Canisius, and we’re happy to have him. It’s good that he gets to work with (Oilers catcher) Michael Booth all summer, too, because they’re going to be able to develop a rapport and work together. It’s a good situation for us and for him as well.”
Reliever Henry Johnson (St. Leo College) took the hard-luck loss for the Nitros, allowing just one hit between the third and sixth innings before the Oilers finally got to him in the seventh.
“Henry did an outstanding job for us,” Jagoda said. “He knew coming in that he was going to be our long man today. We had a starter (Mike Cowles) making his first career start in the NYCBL, so we knew his pitch count wasn’t going to be able to get up there too high. So Henry knew he was going to get the ball at some point; obviously it was a little earlier than we wanted, but Henry came in and kept it right there for us. I thought he deserved the ball in the end – that’s why I stuck with him. He had Kemmer twice in the game on some off-speed pitches down in the dirt, and I thought we had a chance to go after him. I thought Henry did a good job.”
Welsh (2-4), Pantano, (2-3), and Heck (2-2, RBI) each had multiple hits for Olean, while Nick Fornaca (Brown) finished 2-4 with an RBI for Wellsville.
So, 10 days into the season, the Oilers are at the top of the division looking down. Did Bell expect to be this good this fast, after essentially starting a team from scratch over the winter?
“I did. I know a lot of these teams try to get guys from all over the place, and we’ve got guys from all over the place too, but we’re really local,” he said of his 23-man roster, which includes 17 players who suited up for colleges in upstate New York or northern Pennsylvania this spring. “And I know we’re a lot of juco, but I knew the guys we got were really good and they seem to be showing it. One game after another we keep proving ourself – and we want to prove it to ourselves, too – so it’s nice.”
Nitros 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 – 3 6 1
Oilers 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 x – 5 9 0
Cowles (2.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 K, 2 BB), Johnson (3)(4.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 5 K, 1 BB), Fischman (8)(1.0 IP, 0 H, 1 BB) and Sidwell
Tolsma (5.1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 K, 8 BB), Machmer (6)(1.2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB), Petre (8)(2 IP, 0 H, 1 K, 1 BB) and Pollakov, Dixon
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