By Paul Gotham
GENEVA, N.Y. — It’s only the second full week of league play, but Friday night’s game under the lights of Lyceum Street had a big-game feel. Two teams atop the Eastern Division clashed. The visitors not only came away with a victory, they might have made a statement.
Colton Campbell (Rogers St.) paced an 18-hit deluge, and a trio of relief pitchers put zeroes on the board as the Adirondack Trail Blazers trounced the Geneva Red Wings 14-5 in New York Collegiate Baseball League action at McDonough Park, Friday night.
Campbell greeted Red Wing reliever, Lucas Socchia (Oakland) with a three-run bomb in the eighth as the Trail Blazers scored eight unanswered runs in the final two innings to take over first place.
Meanwhile Austin Bartley (Shippensburg) and Geoff Soja (Niagara) stymied the potent Geneva offense.
“Our pitchers really came in and did the job,” Adirondack pitching coach Matt Leahy said. “They got the outs. They got their work in and got out of the game like we try to do every night.”
Bartley stranded a runner in the fifth and retired the side in the sixth for the win. Soja came on in the seventh with a pair of runners aboard, one run in, and the Trail Blazers clinging to a 6-5 lead. The right-hander from Fairport, New York struck out Lucus Sokol (Toledo) to end the threat. Soja retired the side in order in the eighth and set down the Wings gently in the ninth.
“It was good. Our guys had clear and cut jobs to do tonight,” Leahy continued. “Coming out on the bump and going after whether it be two hitters or three outs or whatever the case may be, tonight they got the job done.”
Campbell and the bats made good on the opportunity.
Dezmon Nunn (Three Rivers CC) led the eighth with a single up the middle and followed with a stolen base. Chase Matheson (McHenry County) moved the runner with a ground ball to the right side of the infield. Matthew Robinson (Georgia Coll & St. U) plated Nunn with a bloop single. Eric Baker (Rogers St.) doubled down the left field line setting up Campbell’s opposite field shot to right.
“Any time you can get multiple guys with multiple hits it’s one of those games you hope you can roll into the next one and not use them all up tonight,” Leahy added.
Adirondack put the game out of reach with another four-spot in the ninth.
Johann Knee (Fisher) started the inning with a base on balls. Gooch Greer (Carson-Newman) gave the Trail Blazers a six-run advantage with a two-bagger to left center. Nunn singled to put runners on the corners, and the usual suspects took over from there. Matheson chimed in with another hit. Robinson singled, and Campbell capped the stanza with a sacrifice fly.
Adirondack jumped on Geneva starter, Aaron Benusis (Alvernia), for three runs in the first.
Matheson and Robinson started it off with back-to-back base hits. One out later, Campbell had his first RBI of the night with a single through the right side of the infield. Robinson scored on a sacrifice fly by Travis Moe (Three Rivers CC). Campbell stole second and came home on the second wild pitch of the inning.
The Red Birds scratched and clawed their way back into the game.
Benusis settled down. The 6’7″ right-hander eventually fanned four in a row and five of six.
“Aaron took that first inning to settle in,” Geneva coach Ross Trachtenberg said. “He really found the off-speed pitch. You saw a lot of strike outs on them on off-speed pitches. He tried to keep coming at them that way.”
Geneva’s bats responded.
Brian Sullivan (Clark) homered to deep center to start the second.
Leon Stimpson (Alvernia) led the third with a triple. Ricky Moses II (Southern) brought home the run with a ground ball to the right side of the infield.
Geneva took the lead 4-3 in the fourth. Sullivan singled and stole second. Jesse Puschek (Canisius) dropped a sacrifice bunt. When the throw was mishandled, Sullivan came around to score and Puschek advanced ninety feet. Sokol moved the runner with his own sac bunt, and Luke Stewart (Broward CC) delivered with an infield hit.
The advantage was short-lived.
Adirondack scored two in the fifth and never trailed again.
“They dropped in some nice hits especially with two strikes,” Trachtenberg noted.
Campbell, Greer, Matheson and Robinson collected three hits apiece for the Trail Blazers. Campbell led all with five RBI.
Sullivan chipped in two hits, two runs and two RBI for Geneva.
Benusis fanned six.
Geneva (4-2) hosts the Syracuse Salt Cats (1-7), Saturday night. Matt Hockenberry gets the ball for Geneva. Mike Lalonde takes the hill for the Cats.
Adirondack (6-2) returns home to face the Syracuse Jr. Chiefs (4-2). Ryan Krokos will throw for the Trail Blazers. Nicholas May gets on the bump for Syracuse.
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