By Trey Didio
SHERRILL, NY – The Syracuse Salt Cats jumped ahead early and never looked back as they cruised to an 11-6 victory over the Sherrill Silversmiths in New York Collegiate Baseball League action, Wednesday evening.
Sherrill played its first of 20 home games at Noyes Park but was unable to produce a victory. Starting pitcher Kevin Carpentier (Finger Lakes CC) gave up nine runs on seven hits and four walks through four innings while picking up the loss.
Syracuse plated two runners in the first inning, capitalizing on Carpentier hitting the leadoff hitter Carlos Guzman (Molloy). A sacrifice bunt and two consecutive doubles gave them a 2-0 lead before Sherrill could even step to bat.
The Silversmiths went down in order and Syracuse managed to rally again in the second, this time scoring three runs on only two hits. Sherrill could not recover from the five-run difference.
“It’s tough to battle back from a big deficit like that,” Silversmiths’ manager Dennis Duffy said.
Ka’ai Tom (Fort Scott CC) was a bright spot for the Silversmiths, however. The center fielder from Hawaii homered in his first two at-bats. He also walked in his next two plate appearances, coming around to score both times to total four runs. Both homers were to the short porch in right field, although the first most likely would have cleared the fence at any stadium.
“It does give me some leeway, but you just have to play the field as it is,” said the Fort Scott Community College outfielder.
His two home runs were the only hits Sherrill managed through four innings. Syracuse pitcher Michael Rynerson (St. John Fisher) did a good job stifling their bats by mixing speeds. He limited the Silversmiths to three hits over five innings while striking out three.
“I thought we missed some opportunities,” Duffy said. “We got ourselves in some good positions and we didn’t capitalize on them.”
The offense did pick up towards the end of the game, but it was too late. The Silversmiths plated two runs in the 6th inning thanks to a two-RBI double from Rhode Island University left fielder Matt Ederle. A run in each of the next two innings respectively gave Sherrill six for the game.
Syracuse scored its 11 runs through the first five innings. Nine hits and seven walks through those frames helped the Salt Cats keep the lineup moving.
The Sherrill bullpen did a nice job over the last four innings, only giving up two hits and did not allow a run. Local central New York players Tom DeBernardis (Utica) and Joe Wagner (Clinton) along with Sklyer Geissinger did well cooling off the Syracuse bats.
Cristian Fiorito (Concordia) led the Salt Cats attack with three hits and four RBI.
The teams face off tomorrow night, June 6th at 5:00 pm at Noyes Park again.
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