Salt Cats defeat Silversmiths in home run derby, 15-12

By Justin Lada

SHERRILL, N.Y. — The Syracuse Salt Cats delivered the last blow of Thursday night’s home run derby over the Sherrill Silvermiths, outlasting the Smitties 15-12 in a wild 10-inning affair.

Mike Martinez Jr. (Onondaga CC/Keuka) put the final one over the fence at Noyes Park, a three-run bomb to right field, breaking the 12-12 tie and eventually sending the Salt Cats to the 15-12 win.

The Salt Cats got the party going early, finally breaking through the strangle hold Mike Meleski had on the NYCBL.

Jimmy Napolitano (Ruters-Newark) fired the first shot, a towering three run homer to right that pushed the Salt Cats lead to 5-0 before Sherrill even came to bat.

Roberto Morales (Walsh University) made his first start of the year and after a rocky start, settled down and gave the Cats a solid outing. Morales left after 4.2 innings pitched, allowing six hits, five runs, one walk and seven strikeouts.

Four of the six hits Morales gave up were home run. Brad Kazcka led off the first inning for the Smitties with a solo home run.

Mitch Iseneker, Mike Weakley, and Byron Campbell all took Morales yard, with Campbell’s shot ending Morales’ day. He struck out the side in the fourth.

Maso Cotton (Virginia State) was in line for the win for the Salt Cats, pitching a solid 2.1 innings of relief, with the Cats short on bullpen arms. He allowed three hits and a run while striking out one Silversmith.

Lou Libertore (Malloy College) pitched the eighth inning, allowing one run on two hits.

Meanwhile after the Salt Cats knocked Meleski out, they tagged Troy Loparco for a run, Mitchell DuBois for a run.

Napolitano went yard again in the sixth, giving Syracuse a an 11-5 lead.

Jake Cintolo (Suffolk) had RBI singles in the first, third and fourth innings, helping the Salt Cats build an 8-3 lead after four innings.

Eddie Charles (Oswego) had three hits and scored a pair of runs in the first and fourth innings.

The Silversmiths though bit Sean Gavin (Colorado State-Pueblo) for five runs in the ninth inning, coming all the way back from a 12-7 deficit.

Kazcka reached on an error to start the ninth, Ethan Braddock’s (St. Lawrence) first error of the season. Three straight singles by Mike Weakley, Campbell and Wes VonBoom plated a run and then a walk to Taylor Hackett walked in run number two and ended Gavin’s night.

Bo Watson (Onondaga CC/St. Bonaventure) came on and a passed ball allowed Campbell to score. A groundball to Andrew Medeiros (Westfield State) at first base scored VonBoom when Medeiros threw home trying to get VonBoom. Watson would come back to strikeout Nate Eastmen and Iseneker but allowed an RBI single to Hibberd to tie the game at 12.

Watson got the win, striking out both VonBoom and Hackett in the 10^th inning after Weakley and Campbell reached to start the inning.

Martinez’s go ahead three run home run in the top of the 10^th inning almost didn’t happen. After grounding out in the ninth inning it appeared as if Martinez re-injured his back that kept him out of action for nearly two weeks. The now three year NYCBL veteran shook it off and went back to right field long enough to win the game for the ‘Cats.

The Salt Cats improved to 6-13 on the year and the Silversmith’s fell to 7-12, putting the Salt Cats just a game back of fifth place.

Sean Williams (Oklahoma State-Panhandle) will make his fourth start of the season (1-0) against the Adirondack Trailblazers at 7 p.m. from Boonville, New York.

Follow the Salt Cats on twitter for all in game updates @SyrSaltCats and find pictures and more on the Salt Cats facebook.

 

SYR Salt Cats        4 0 1   3 2 0   1 1 0   3 - 15 17  1
Sherrill             2 1 0   0 2 0   1 1 5   0 - 12 16  7
2B--E.Charles (5), C.Thompson (3), W.Van Boom (1), E.Ruch III 2 (6),
H.Hibberd (3). 3B--M.Weakley (1). HR--J.Napolitano 2 (2), M.Martinez (1),
B.Kazcka (3), M.Weakley (3), B.Campbell (4), M.Iseneker (3). RBI--B.Morton
(6), J.Cintolo  3 (10), J.Napolitano  4 (12), M.Martinez  3 (4), B.Kazcka
(15), M.Weakley  2 (9), B.Campbell  2 (20), W.Van Boom (8), E.Ruch III  2
(8), N.Flemister (12), M.Iseneker (9), H.Hibberd (8). HP--D.Fiorito (2),
N.Carlson (3). SF--B.Morton (1). SH--T.Kirwan (0), K.Bailey (0).
SB--E.Charles 2 (7), D.Fiorito 2 (11), J.Napolitano (1), N.Carlson 2 (4),
B.Kazcka (4). CS--E.Charles (3), J.Cintolo (1), A.Mederios (1). E--T.Kirwan
(1), B.Kazcka (10), B.Campbell 2 (2), W.Van Boom 2 (4), H.Hibberd 2 (6). 
LOB--SYR Salt Cats 10, Sherrill 8.