Courtesy of the Niagara Gazette
By Doug Smith
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — “The Holy Wars” resume tonight at Sal Maglie Stadium, as the Niagara Power, refreshed after Monday’s Olean marathon, entertain the New York State Collegiate League’s “mystery team,” listed on the schedule as “ROC.”
That’s short for “Rochester,” although the team, faith-based as is the Power, plays its home games in the former “Yankee Stadium” of suburban Webster. The rivalry between the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Power and the Athletes in Action “ROC” has been intense ever since the Power joined the league.
Nothing, though, could match the intensity of Monday’s scheduled double-header in Olean, which broadcaster Jason Patterson described as “too much to be contained in one day.” The Power won the opener 10-5 in eight innings, then rallied to tie the nightcap 13-13 in the top of the seventh before darkness suspended play.
One out into the game, the Power had lost both a pitcher and an outfielder. Starter Bo Lucas’ shoulder tightened and starter P. J. Worthen shed a contact lens, but the team never lost focus in retaining its share of one of the top three – playoff – spots as the season reached the quarter pole.
Examples of manager Garrett Shively’s daredevil style included these:
First game, second inning – With the bases loaded, none out, Alex Lagos drops a suicide squeeze and beats it out. After Ryan Kiesel walks, Shakeel Newton drops another bunt, this time scoring not only the runner from third, but Lagos, hard-charging from second. Power leads 5-0.
Seventh (and final) inning, score 5-5 – Oiler Alex Heck drills what should be a game-ending double to left but a perfect relay from Nick Linni to Lagos to catcher Frank Pollino cuts it down.
Eighth inning – Power twice steal bases on “defensive indifference,” setting up game-deciding hits by Newton and Adam Taylor, every starter scoring in the rout that started as a nail-biter.
Second game, seventh inning – With darkness descending, trailing 13-11, the Power put runners on first and second with two out. Shively audaciously signals double steal and when the Olean catcher goes after “trail runner” Adam Taylor at second, the ball sails into centerfield and Taylor takes third, whereupon Chane Lynch lifts a sacrifice fly into the gloom to tie the score. The blue see black and immediately halt play, which will resume, presumably, July 8.
Almost six hours earlier, Power had lost starting pitcher Bo Lucas to one-out shoulder soreness, and outfielder P.J. Worthen when a lens went missing on the artificial surface at St. Bonaventure University. As Shively and pitching coach Josh Rebant had already projected a “wholestaff” approach to the nightcap, the Power’s fourth game in two days, the team proceeded on “a wing and a prayer,” to a win and a tie. Compared to that, Cooperstown held few wonders.
The Power stays home for Olean Saturday.
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