By Paul Gotham
WELLSVILLE, NY – If early returns mean anything, Wellsville’s Nitros offer plenty of promise for 2013.
The Nitros pounded out 14 hits, including eight for extra bases, en route to a 13-2 drubbing of the Olean Oilers in New York Collegiate Baseball League action Wednesday evening.
Shane Barley (St. John Fisher) and Scott De Jong (Felician) did the heavy lifting each connecting for three-run home runs as the Nitros took a commanding 11-1 lead in the fourth inning.
DeJong’s shot, his second three-run blast in as many days, plated Matthew Mastroianni (SUNY Oneonta) and Alec Bahnick (Bellarmine) as Wellsville went on to send 13 men to the plate in the stanza.
“He threw me a slider low in the dirt on the first pitch,” De Jong said of his at bat. “Second pitch he just laid it right down the middle. In a position like that with first base open, I’m just looking for a ball down the middle.”
De Jong’s home run was almost a carbon copy of his round tripper on opening day when he also went to straight away center field in Wellsville’s 7-1 triumph over Olean.
The Nitro bats didn’t rest. Thad Johnson (St. Bonaventure) doubled inside the bag at third. Aaron Brill (Felician) walked, and Barley cleared the bases with a bomb off the scoreboard in left field.
“I saw a good pitch, swung hard and drove it,” Barley said. “It must have gotten up in the jet stream because I got under it a little.”
The home run was the second of the day for the Ithaca, New York native who, along with teammate David DeWolfe (Francis Marion), connected on back-to-back solo shots in a five-run third inning.
“We’re swinging it really well,” commented Wellsville head coach, Anthony Barone. “We got some big bats as you can see in the lineup. It’s a good group of hitters.”
The dominant offense overshadowed a nearly peerless pitching performance. Six Wellsville pitchers combined on a one-hitter.
“The staff has been outstanding,” Barone continued. “You can’t win games without pitching. All the credit goes to them.”
Ismael Velez (Fisher College) started the game and went three innings striking out four and walking three for the win.
Luke Holm (Wabash) took over from there and held the Olean bats silent. Talas Mahon (Pitt-Bradford), Connor Semple (Penn St. Erie) and Anthony Baker each hurled a frame. Jeff Samuel (Wabash) tossed the eighth and ninth.
Wellsville’s defense continued to impress especially the play of Brill at shortstop. The senior from Lodi, New Jersey took away a pair of Olean singles. When the Oilers did finally get a hit, Brill was in the middle of a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.
“I was always taught as a shortstop it’s our job to take charge,” Brill commented. “That’s how I’ve always been.”
In this their second season in the NYCBL the Oilers have limped out of the gate. In their inaugural campaign, Olean’s offense carried them to a second-place finish in the NYCBL West Division after holding the top spot for much of the season.
The Oilers have managed just four hits in the first two games while the defense has committed six errors.
“We had a couple of bad innings,” Olean head coach Bobby Bell said. “They bullpen did well for us. We put it behind us. Now, it’s a 38-game season starting tomorrow.”
One bright spot for the Oilers was Kyle McLain (Washington and Jefferson) who struck out the side in order in his one inning of work on the mound.
Barley, who was Tuesday’s NYCBL Player of the Day, surpassed his previous day’s work with two hits and five RBI. The junior outfielder is 5-8 with six RBI and three runs scored after two games.
“I’m not really thinking much at the plate,” Barley said of his success. I’m just staying relaxed and waiting to get a pitch to drive.”
The same two teams meet in Olean on Thursday to complete a non-traditional three-game set. First pitch at Olean High School is slated for 5 p.m.
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