By Jason Patterson
The instant in which first-baseman Chane Lynch’s memorable drive cleared the wooden right-field wall at Historic McDonough Park, sighs of relief could be felt from the shores of Seneca Lake all the way back to Niagara Falls. Power fans, already elated by the mere fact that the Hyde Park Crew were able to finally return to the diamond, were even more ecstatic to find that the bats returned to life with them.
The Power picked up their second league victory of the season Wednesday night in their first ever game against the expansion Geneva Twins. Not only did Niagara win, they did it in convincing fashion. In the process, this team revealed its formula for success: solid pitching, timely hitting and just enough defense to get the job done.
It seems as if the unexpected day off (due to Tuesday’s rainout), came at the perfect time for a Power team needing to find a way to jump start the offense. Less than twenty-four hours after using the cancellation to get some extra cage work in, everyone in the lineup contributed. In a game that saw the visiting team push ten runs across, Niagara closed its tough stretch of early road games by securing a tremendous amount of momentum as they prepare to head back to Sal Maglie for a weekend home stand.
Niagara struck first with a two-out rally in their opening frame, powered by an Adam Taylor triple and Tyler Schweigert’s RBI single to right field. Schweigert used his next at bat to tie the game with a sacrifice fly scoring Shakeel Newton in the 3rd.The Power exploded for eight runs in the fourth inning to claim the lead, and they never looked back.
With the game tied 2-2 Head Coach Garrett Shivley had Alex Lagos execute a bases loaded squeeze play giving the Power a 3-2 advantage. Following Lagos’ perfect bunt, Chane Lynch, drove the next Geneva offering out of the ballpark for the first Niagara Grand Slam of the season. The Boys in Blue would add three more runs in the inning to take a 10-2 advantage.
As the game pushed toward the late innings, Niagara’s bullpen took the game over. Four Power pitchers combined for a solid effort in relief of starter Bo Lucas (2-0), who was exceptional once again in his second appearance of the season. Niagara cruised to a much needed 10-4 victory. It was the team’s first road win of the 2012 campaign.
The Power (3-3, 2-3 NYCBL) will be back in action Thursday night in a home contest against Olean, before hosting the Hornell Dodgers for three games in two days this coming Friday and Saturday.
Game Notes….
10 runs on 9 hits with 3 errors in the game for Niagara…Lucas’ final line was 2 runs (1 ER) on 4 hits across 5.0 IP…Lynch’s numbers on the game: 2 for 4 with 4 RBI and 2 runs scored…Neil DeCook ended the night 3 for 5 with 2 runs scored…Newcomer Nick Linne was 1 for 2 on the night with 1 RBI and 1 run…The four effective relievers for the Power were left-hander Brandon Mumaw and righties David Kaplan, Ken DeCook and Scott Voyles…Niagara backstops combined to gun down three base stealers in 5 attempts: Spencer Bowles (2), Ryan Jordan (1)
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