By Paul Gotham
OLEAN, NY – Shane Barley (St. John Fisher) paced a 10-hit attack as the Wellsville Nitros defeated the Olean Oilers, 7-1 in the season opener of the New York Collegiate Baseball League.
Barley singled and came around to score in the fourth as the Nitros grabbed their first lead of the season and never looked back.
“Basically just put it in play hard,” Barley said when asked about his approach at the plate. “That’s what I’ve been taught, just hit the ball hard, and in play and make stuff happen. That’s what happened today.”
Barley led the inning with a base hit to left and moved to third when a ground ball by Cameron Friess (Texas St.) was mishandled. Barley eventually crossed the plate on a double play.
Barley doubled home a run in the sixth. Aaron Brill (Felician) worked a leadoff base on balls and stole second. Barley greeted Olean reliever Derek Vail (Sante Fe CC) with a double just inside the bag down the right field line.
“Good thing about him is when he gets down in the count, he changes his approach,” commented Wellsville coach, Anthony Barone. “He fights off pitches, and he hit some nice line drives today. He battled up there.”
A bucket brigade of Wellsville pitchers held the Olean lineup in check.
Kevin Herren (Bellarmine) started and went four innings. The left-hander surrendered one unearned run on two hits and three walks with six strike outs.
Justin Wood (Penn St.-Behrend) pitched a scoreless fifth for the win.
Kyle Zambanini (Indiana) and Jack Fowler (Felician) each hurled a pair of scoreless stanzas.
“We’re going to go with pitch counts the first week or two here,” Barone explained. “It’s a good chance for everyone to get on the mound.”
Thad Johnson (St. Bonaventure) in center field and Brill each turned in a number of stellar defensive plays. Johnson chased down a long fly ball to the base of the fence in center field. He followed that with a diving catch of a sinking line drive. Brill used a backhand to snare a line drive between short and third that was destined for left field. The senior also went behind the bag at second and got up from his knees to make the throw to first.
“I thought our pitching and defense was outstanding,” Barone stated. “That’s how you win ball games.”
Scott DeJong (Felician) highlighted a four-run ninth with a three-run blast as the Nitros put the game out of reach. Clint Scarborough (Wabash) singled off Kyle Mann (California U of Penn) to start the frame. After Scarborough was erased on a fielder’s choice, Dominic Zaher (Fisher) singled to left center. The runners moved ninety on a wild pitch, but it didn’t matter. DeJong took a Mann offering and deposited on the other side of the fence in straightaway center.
Wellsville added another run when Barley plated Johnson with a base hit through the left side of the infield.
DeJong brought home Cody Trinch (Thiel) with a sacrifice fly in the third.
Brandon Valentin (Nova Southeastern) was the tough-luck loser. The lefty allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits and two walks while fanning three.
“It was five solid (innings),” said Olean coach Bobby Bell of his starter’s performance. “He’s still working to catch up to where he needs to be. We’re looking for a lot of good things from Brandon.”
“We hit the ball well here and there,” Bell continued. “A couple of things could have gone our way here, a couple of things could have gone our way there, but all the positives are here.”
After scoring a run in the first, the Oilers looked to add to it in the second. Kyle McLain (Washington and Jefferson) started the inning with a double, but was called when an appeal determined he missed the bag at first.
The same two teams will go at it Wednesday afternoon at Wellsville. A 5 p.m. first pitch is scheduled.
nice article, very thorough and professional