By Bill Dubiel
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A peculiar rally in the bottom of the ninth inning helped the Syracuse Junior Chiefs (7-2) triumph over the Geneva Red Wings (5-5) Wednesday night at Gillette Road Middle School. The victory was Syracuse’s sixth in a row, and allowed them to retain their first place rank in the NYCBL Eastern Division.
On the hill for the Chiefs was junior righty Keenan Stare (1-1), fresh off of a dominant performance against Utica on June 14th. Stare would not fare as well against the Red Wings, as he was touched up for five earned runs in just 4.1 innings of work, not factoring into the decision.
Geneva’s Leon Simpson led off the game with a knock, one of four hits on the day for the Philadelphia native. He was quickly driven in by his Alvernia University teammate Chris Ray, giving the Red Wings an early 1-0 lead.
The Red Wings struck again in the fourth inning on back-to-back solo shots from Brian Sullivan and George Schaefer off of Stare. The duo helped tack on two more in the fourth with an RBI walk and RBI single, respectively, knocking Stare out of the ballgame.
That seemed as if it would be plenty for Geneva’s Joe Bocchino, who was utterly dominant through his first four innings of work, allowing just one hit and striking out three.
However, the potent offense that has been the key to the Chiefs recent streak exploded in the fifth. After loading the bases, David Lostaglio delivered an RBI fielder’s choice to plate the Chiefs first run. Binghamton University sophomore Zach Blanden cleaned the bases with a two-run double, and later scored after Christian Knott was walked with the bases loaded. David Wolak pushed the tying run across later in the inning on a sac fly to center.
The bullpens battled for the next two innings, as Syracuse’s Robert Frank quieted the Red Wings and Geneva’s Zach Augustine shut down the Chiefs.
The Red Wings finally got to Frank in eighth, as Jesse Puscheck led off the inning with a base hit and advanced to second on a wild pitch. He was driven in two batters later by Beau Hauser to give the Red Wings a 6-5 lead, which held until the bottom of the ninth.
With Geneva’s Bryan Jagielo on the mound, Blanden led off the inning with a bloop single over first base that somehow managed to fall despite three charging Red Wings. Hoping to move Blanden into scoring position, Frank Salerno of Thomas Aquinas College laid down a beautiful bunt that he beat out for a hit. Along the same train of thought, Alvernia University senior Brian Witkowski laid down a similar bunt, also beating it out for a hit and loading the bases. Knott wasted little time in smacking a ground ball up the middle, driving in both Blanden and Salerno for the tying and winning runs.
Dean Bonneau picked up the win for the Junior Chiefs, with Jagielo receiving the loss.
The Junior Chiefs will go for their seventh win in a row on the road against the Utica Brewers on Friday.
The Red Wings host the Adirondack Trail Blazers on Thursday.
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