By Paul Gotham
ROCHESTER, NY – On a windy afternoon, Brad Kaczka (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Sutherland) paced a 19-hit attack as the Monroe Community College Tribunes (17-9/1-1) rebounded from a first game setback for a double-header split (8-10/16-3) with the Jefferson Community College Cannoneers (7-10/2-0) in NJCAA action at Tribune Field, Sunday.
Kaczka’s hit-and-run triple into the right center gap plated Rayshelon Carolina (Willemstad, Curacao/St. Jozef Secondary) with Monroe’s first run as five Tribs knocked base raps to start game two.
“I was just staying to the middle of the field,” Kazcka said of his first of three extra-base hits on the game. “Recently, I’ve been opening up a little more than I normally do. I just wanted to get a base hit up the middle, and it found a gap.”
Vinny Bomasuto (Dunkirk, NY/Dunkirk) followed with an RBI triple of his own. Spencer Scorza (Penfield, NY/Penfield) put runners on the corners with an infield single, and Angel Diaz (Humacao, PR/Geneva) delivered with an RBI line drive to left field.
“Today is a fun day to hit,” remarked Monroe head coach Mike Kelly. “The wind is blowing out. You got to put the ball in play.”
The Tribunes put crooked numbers on the board in each of the next three frames to salt away the victory.
Kazcka highlighted a four-run second with a two-run home run well over the fence in left field as the Tribunes were well on their way to getting revenge for the game-one loss.
“Obviously, you don’t want to lose especially at home,” Kazcka stated. “The best thing we could do is what we just did: score 16 runs and just crush them.”
Bomasuto followed with an infield base hit, Scorza went opposite field with a double to cap the second frame output.
Brett Sanders (Greece, NY/Greece Olympia) led the third with a single. After Angel Rosario (Bridgeport, CT/Bullard Havens) walked, and Carolina was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Bomasuto scored two with a single through the left side of the infield. Scorza and AJ Kehlenbeck (Oakfield,NY/Oakfield-Alabama) knocked back-to-back RBI base hits stretching the Tribune lead to 11-3.
Danny Mendick (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford-Mendon) put the finishing touches on a five-run fourth with a single scoring Diaz and Scorza.
Zach Melino (Rochester, NY/Gates-Chili) worked a pair of scoreless frames for the Black and Gold. Three days after being touched for five runs (one earned) on two hits and four walks in three innings, the right-hander retired the last five he faced.
“It was important to get my confidence back up,” Melino said. “I had to throw some zeroes up because if they got going they’d just start scoring runs like they did the first game.”
After Bomasuto helped the cause with a diving catch in the left field, Melino didn’t allow the next four batters to get the ball out of the infield, inducing a ground ball, two weak pop ups and striking out one.
“Made my pitches and got the outs,” Melino explained. “I was hitting my spots. A couple of curve balls I left down in the zone-missed with those-but I did what I had to do.”
Kaczka finished a single shy of cycle going three-of-four with three RBI four runs scored.
Jefferson used extra innings to take the opener.
Kyle Simmons (Watertown,NY/Watertown High) rapped an RBI triple, and Tyler Decker (Adams,NY/South Jefferson Central) followed with an run-scoring single as the Cannoneers pushed two across the dish in the eighth for the game one win.
Scorza’s two-out home run in the fifth inning of game one gave the Tribs a 5-3 advantage. But the lead was short-lived as Decker drilled a three-run shot in the sixth as part of five-run outburst.
Kehlenbeck tied the game in dramatic fashion drilling a three-run bomb with two outs in the bottom of the seventh.
Monroe let the opportunity slip away.
“It was nice to see the way we bounced back,” Kelly commented. “But it doesn’t do too much for the overall product. That’s two wins that should have happened. It’s really disappointing how they scored five runs in the sixth.”
The doubleheader split was the third in a row for the Tribunes who had won six straight after returning from their trip to Arizona. Monroe enters a six-game stretch where they will go head-to-head with Regional foes, Genesee Community College and Mercyhurst Northeast.
“We look past teams at times,” Kelly noted. “We weren’t really worried about this game. We’re worried about the next week because we got six conference games, but this was supposed to be a game to get our morale up, and it kinda backfired. Experienced players made some very undisciplined mistakes, and it comes back to haunt you.”
Kaczka went five-of-seven on the day with a cycle between the two games scoring five runs and driving in four.
Bomasuto finished with five hits in eight trips. His triple was his tenth of the season as he continues to add to the program mark in that category.
Scorza went six-of-nine with six runs driven in.
Kehlenbeck added six hits in eight at bats with five RBI.
Carolina had two hits, two walks and four runs scored.
Diaz went four-of-eight with a run scored.
Rosario had three hits, two walks and three runs scored.
Both Kaczka and Jefferson’s Decker played for the Sherrill Silversmiths of the New York Collegiate Baseball League last summer. Kaczka had 40 hits in 143 at bats (.280) for the Smitties. Decker hit .295 (13-of-44) in 15 games.
Monroe hosts GCC, Tuesday. First pitch at Tribune Field is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Leave a Reply