By Lori Chase
@LChase_RA
St. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — As the New York Collegiate Baseball League reaches the midpoint of the 2012 season, Olean has quickly established itself as the best in the West at the plate.
Wednesday afternoon’s game at Fred Handler Park at McGraw-Jennings Field was no exception, with the Oilers pounding out 18 hits in a convincing 12-5 victory over Rochester Athletes In Action.
Olean (12-7) jumped out to a quick 4-0 first-inning margin on a leadoff double by Joe Pantano and singles from Jon Kemmer, Brad Rush, Thomas Richards, and Mike Scarcello, then continued the power surge with homers by Brian Dixon and Pat Welsh to “put another one on the left side” (in the win column).
“You’ll win a lot of games when you hit the ball like that,” coach Bobby Bell said.
For AIA coach Taylor Hargrove, it was a question of coming through in the clutch … or not.
“We can’t get a big hit,” Hargrove said after watching his club strand 16 baserunners to fall to 5-12 on the season. “We had runners on base, bases loaded – they walked five guys, I think, and hit by pitches in the first three or four innings – and we get one run in. They have the bases loaded or runners on second and third and they get the big hit.
“We’re really looking for some leadership to step up,” he continued. “We have the players, we have the talent, even though our record doesn’t show it. I just need to see some leadership.”
Brandon Nemeti (Erie CC) worked 5.1 innings before giving way to the Oilers bullpen, scattering five hits and walking eight to tie Hornell’s Nick Boyd for the NYCBL lead with his fourth win of the season without a loss.
“Brandon’s a smart pitcher. It takes a lot to get to him,” Bell said. “I know he seemed a little rattled, but he’s not like most pitchers. When he’s out there, even when he’s struggling, he still in control of the game.”
The amount of free passes handed out by his team still concerns the Olean coach; bases on balls and hit batsmen contributed to three of Rochester’s five runs and an average of almost seven extra baserunners per game. To date, though, the Oilers have been able to overcome those troubles by fielding the most potent offense in the NYCBL, leading the league in runs scored (144), batting average (.311), slugging (.459) and on-base percentage (.401). The top third of the everyday lineup, shortstop Pantano (ECC), second baseman Seth Heck (Tacoma CC), and left fielder Kemmer (Clarion), is batting a combined .408 with 44 RBIs.
With production like that, if the pitching staff starts putting it together? Look out below.
“Like we were talking about in the huddle there – cut down on our bad innings and we’re going to win a lot of games,” Bell said.
“We’re getting there. Right now, halfway through, I think we’re putting ourselves in a good spot to make the playoffs. And hopefully, like I keep telling these guys, it’s not going to be about who’s the best team, it’s going to be about who’s playing the best. So hopefully we can stay hot when we get to that point of the season.”
With a little help from Wellsville, which downed Hornell 11-4 to snap the Dodgers’ five-game winning streak, the Oilers moved back to within a game of the Western Division lead. Hornell (13-6) hosts Geneva at Maple City Park tonight, while Olean gets the night off before welcoming the Dodgers to Handler Park for a 5 p.m. start on Friday.
Halfway home, it looks like the West is going to stay wild all season.
“Last year when I was here we called it the Black-and-Blue Division, because we just beat each other up the whole year,” said Geneva coach Kevin Whiteside, who coached the Nitros in 2011. “It’s going to be like this the whole way, I predict. It makes it fun. It makes it competitive for the kids, and it means something in late July when you’ve got something on the line and everybody’s competing to get to the playoffs.”
Bell agreed, concluding, “It’s going to be tight. It’s not an easy feeling in the stomach, but we’ll keep plugging away and chipping at them. And hopefully, like you said, keep them coming on the left side.”
At St. Bonaventure:
A.I.A. – 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 – 5 9 1
Olean – 4 0 0 3 1 4 0 0 x – 12 18 2
Belk (L, 2-1)(4 IP, 11 H, 7 ER, 1 SO, 2 BB), Porretta (5)(2 SO, 2 BB), Crosby (7)(2 SO, 1 BB), Groeschell (8)(2 SO, 1 BB) and Davis
Nemeti (W, 4-0)(5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 8 BB), Lee (6)(1 BB), Rufer (8)(1 SO, 2 BB), Petre (9)(1 SO, 2 BB) and Dixon, Booth (9)
HR: Welsh, Dixon (O)
2B: Andrade, Davis, Flanagan (AIA); Pantano 2, Rush, Welsh (O)
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