By Bill Dubiel
Syracuse, N.Y.–A brilliant start by the junior Keenan Stare was the key to the Syracuse Junior Chiefs (3-2) 12-3 victory over the Utica Brewers (4-5) Thursday night at Hopkins Road Park.
The 6’0” righty from East Stroudsburg University threw seven strong innings, yielding only two earned runs on four hits and two walks while striking out seven.
It did take Stare (1-1) a few batters to find his groove, however.
The Brewers’ Eros Modena and Stephen Dezzi led off the game with a deep double and RBI triple, respectively. Dezzi was driven in on an RBI groundout by Jared Graziano, giving Utica’s Anthony DiMaio an early 2-0 lead.
DiMaio (0-1) shut the Chiefs down in the first, but would leave with an apparent injury after yielding three runs on two hits and a walk in just 1.1 innings.
Kurtis Sargent would take over for the Brewers, but to no avail as his outing was plagued by six Utica errors. The Chiefs capitalized on almost every free pass that was issued to them, as Sargent would end up allowing eight unearned runs over the next 4.2 innings. Jordan Sechler threw the final two innings, allowing one run on two hits.
Stare never looked back from his first inning struggles, as he shut out the Brewers for the next six frames, walking only two and allowing a pair of harmless singles before turning it over to the bullpen. Mark Palumbo tossed a perfect eighth, striking out the side in order, and Aidan Wiese finished out the ninth after allowing one run on a pair of singles. The final Utica run was driven in by Steven Chagolia.
Leading the way for the Chiefs on offense was Ryan Sonberg, who plated three on two basehits. David Wolak drove in two runs on a second inning single, and would later knock a triple into right in the bottom of the 8th. Tim Locastro also drove in two runs on a pair of singles.
Utica pitchers issued five walks in addition to the six errors.
Six of the nine members of Syracuse’s starting lineup had hits.
All nine members of Syracuse’s starting lineup reached base at least once.
Syracuse’s defense was airtight, as they committed no errors.
Steven Dezzi was the only Brewer with a multiple-hit game, as he added a fifth inning single to his first inning triple.
The Chiefs had five double play opportunities, converting two of them.
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