By Lori Chase
St. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — The temperature was blazing hot in Western New York on Thursday afternoon, and so were the Geneva Twins’ bats.
Blasting the game open with a seven-run second inning and riding another strong pitching performance by Jon Menke, the Twins made the most of their first visit to Olean, rolling to a 12-5 victory over the Oilers at Fred Handler Park.
The win – Geneva’s fourth in a row – moved the two first-year clubs into a dead heat for second place in the New York Collegiate Baseball League’s Western Division at 8-6, a game behind Hornell (9-5).
Catcher Michael Allen (Davenport) led the barrage with four of Geneva’s nine extra-base hits, doubling twice before launching a pair of home runs to left field in a 4-for-5, 4-RBI performance. Josh Chinni (Wayland Baptist), Brent Poulin (Cuesta College), and Brandon Martinez (Kutztown) also dialed long-distance, with the Twins’ five round-trippers matching their total from the first 13 games.
“We just came out swinging the bats. Guys swung at good pitches,” Geneva coach Kevin Whiteside said. “That’s something we’ve been working on all year, situational hitting. Got some good pitches and put some good swings on them. It just worked out for us today.”
For Olean, giving up a big inning early isn’t an unfamiliar scenario. But unlike their game at Rochester the night before, when the Oilers trailed 7-1 after the third before exploding for a 20-7 win, there would be no comeback this time.
“It was just that one inning,” Olean coach Bobby Bell said. “Walk, hit by pitch, a hit here, a hit there, a three-run home run. Suddenly we’re chasing, and it’s tough to come back.”
The Twins’ power surge was a rude welcome to the NYCBL for Olean starter Joe Dileo, who barely had time to unpack before throwing his first pitch for a strike. The Williamsville native adds to the strong Erie Community College presence on the roster, becoming the fifth Kat to suit up for the Oilers.
“Joe just joined the team, actually this morning he showed up, and we threw him under the bus by putting him on the mound,” Bell said of the 5-foot-8 St. Joe’s grad. “But he did a good job. Maybe caught a little too much of the plate, but he’ll be a good asset for us out of the pen down the road.”
Geneva loaded the bases in the top of the first before Dileo worked his way out of the jam with his second strikeout of the inning, then packed the sacks again in the second frame without a hit.
After Max Townley (University of the Ozarks) led off with a walk, Dileo nicked Poulin’s batting helmet while the second baseman was squaring to bunt. An error on a grounder to third by Isaac Behme (Webster) set the table for leadoff hitter Martinez, who delivered a clean RBI single to right. The runners held as Carter Bumgardner (Bucknell) flew out to center field, but Allen followed by rattling a standup double into the left-field corner to plate two more runs. Taylor Nichols (South Alabama) singled through the left side of the infield to send Allen to third, and Chinni cleared the bases with a three-run moonshot well over the left-field fence before Dileo got Townley on a check-swing whiff to finally retire the side.
The Twins added another run in the fifth on Poulin’s solo homer before Olean began to rally in the bottom half of the inning, scoring twice when Brad Rush (St. John Fisher) brought Steve Pollakov (U. of Rochester) and Jake Kemmer (Clarion) in with a two-run double to left.
Although the Oilers finally got to Menke for his first two earned runs of the season, Pollakov’s Rochester Yellowjackets batterymate turned in another quality outing for Geneva. The 6-foot-4 righthander struck out six, scattered five hits and issued three walks in five innings of work to pick up his second win of the season in three starts, continuing to look strong as his pitch count neared the 90-degree temperature on the St. Bonaventure campus.
“That’s Jon. He’s going to come out and compete,” Whiteside said. “He got to about that 85-pitch mark and we wanted to shut him down right there; our bullpen came in and gave us a lift.”
Following Allen’s homer in the top of the sixth, Olean continued its comeback attempt in the home half of the inning. Joe Chittester (Clarion) worked an 11-pitch leadoff walk against Tyler Spry (Onandaga CC), then came around to score on Pollakov’s double. Joe Pantano (Erie CC) followed with a grounder to short to bring in Jose Alicea (Genesee CC), and after a walk to Seth Heck (Tacoma CC) brought Whiteside out of the dugout for a pitching change, Kemmer greeted reliever Dillon Hamlin (Seton Hall) by rifling a two-run double through short to draw Olean back within shouting distance.
But the Oilers wouldn’t score again, while Geneva added a trio of insurance runs on homers by Allen and Martinez for the final margin of victory.
“They’re a good team and they fought back,” Whiteside said. “We just had to keep competing, and were fortunate enough to get the win today.”
The Twins skipper, who served in the same role for the Allegany County Nitros last year, sees good things ahead for both expansion teams.
“Both teams are outstanding from the management standpoint; both teams are really competitive,” he said. “I think it’s going to help this league. Not only this year, but probably 10 or 15 years down the road, because Olean is going to put a good crop on the field as well as Geneva.”
At St. Bonaventure:
Twins – 0 7 0 0 1 1 0 1 2 – 12 16 0
Oilers – 0 0 0 0 2 3 0 0 0 – 5 9 2
Menke (5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 6 SO, 3 BB), Spry(6)(0.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB), Hamlin (6)(1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB), Juday (8)(2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R) and Allen
Dileo (5.0 IP, 10 H, 9 R, 5 ER, 7 SO, 2 BB), Lee (6)(4.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 SO) and Pollakov
HR: Allen 2, Martinez, Chinni, Poulin (G).
3B: Behme (G).
2B: Allen 2, Chinni (G); Rush 2, Pollakov, Kemmer (O).
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