Sherrill bats heat up, help beat Oneonta for first win of season

By Dan Lonky (@dlonky)

ONEONTA, NY – After being limited to just two hits the previous night, the Sherrill Silversmiths bats woke up to score eight runs on nine hits Sunday evening, both numbers being single-game highs for them this season. The previously anemic offense had been outscored 30-11 in their first four games of the season before their 8-4 victory over the Oneonta Outlaws in New York Collegiate Baseball League action at Damaschke Field, Sunday.

The game started quickly in Oneonta’s favor, as the Outlaws took a 2-0 lead in the 1^st, cashing in on a pair of RBI groundouts after Sherrill’s starter Josh Griffith (Ft. Scott CC) began the game by walking the bases loaded. However, despite his shaky start and some control issues, the right hander began to sail through the Oneonta lineup with ease as the evening went on, eventually finishing with a line of 7 IP, 2 H, 3 R (2 ER), 5 BB, and 4 Ks.

The Silversmiths jumped on Outlaws starter Luke Crumley (Georgia) in the second for four runs, highlighted by a Rich Guglielmi (Saginaw Valley) 2 run double down the right field line. Sherrill would score two more in the fifth, one off Crumley and one off Georgia native Heath Holder (Georgia St), who came on to pitch three innings in relief for Oneonta.

For the Outlaws it would be a combination of shoddy defense and not enough offense that would spell defeat for them Sunday at Damaschke Field. Errors by catcher Josh Treff (Northeastern) and infielders Ryan Tomita (Grand Canyon) and Derek Hirsch (Wofford) would prove costly, and despite drawing seven walks, the Outlaws would manage only three hits all game.

In the ninth the Outlaws tried to get some last minute magic going, as Jake Levine (Brown) tripled on a hit off the right fielder’s glove, driving in Oneonta native Chris Pindar. However, the late inning heroics would end there as Ryan Tomita grounded out to the shortshop to end the game.

The Outlaws will look to bounce back from their loss to the Silversmiths on the road as they take on the Syracuse Salt Cats tomorrow, June 10^th at 5pm.