By Zach Gewelb
SYRACUSE, NY — The Syracuse Jr. Chiefs vaunted bats came to life late in game two of a doubleheader against the Syracuse Salt Cats, but were unable to pull off the comeback as they dropped both games to their inner-city rivals.
After dropping game one, the Jr. Chiefs looked to score early against their rivals, but were unable to strike first.
The Salt Cats gained the advantage in the top of the second when right fielder Mike Mascari (SUNY Oswego) kept the inning alive with a two out double down the left field line. That brought Tucker Sawyer (Ave Maria U) to the plate and he followed with a double of his own to plate Mascari, giving the Salt Cats a 1-0 lead.
The Salt Cats would tack on another run the following inning after center fielder Carlos Guzman (Molloy Col) led off with a single. He advanced to second thanks to a sacrifice bunt by Bud Morton (Southern U A).
Jr. Chiefs starter Jordan Fuller (Seton Hill U) struck out the next batter but then walked Christian Fiorito (Concordia Col) to put two men on for Colton Montgomery (Georgia Col & St U). The Salt Cats DH came through with a single to center and extended his team’s lead to 2-0.
The Jr. Chiefs inched closer in the bottom of the third after a leadoff triple from Nicholas Sinay (Buffalo U of). Aaron Pigna (Ave Maria U) drove in Sinay after his grounder danced past the left side of the Salt Cats infield. Both the shortstop and third baseman could not get a glove on the ball and rolled into shallow left field, allowing Sinay to score to cut the Salt Cats’ lead to 2-1.
A turning point in the game came when the Jr. Chiefs number-three hitter Alex Caruso (St Johns U) was ejected between innings after appearing to argue with the umpires. He was replaced by Connor Martin in the lineup and this proved costly in the bottom of the fifth when he came up in Caruso’s spot with runners on first and third and one out. Martin popped up to second for the second out.
Stanley Susaña (St Thomas Aquinas Col) drew a two out walk and Pat Wright (Le Moyne Col) came up with bases loaded. Salt Cats starter Max Schonfeld (Molloy Col) induced Martin to fly to center to end the inning.
The missed opportunity may have cost the Jr. Chiefs the game, as the Salt Cats exploded in the sixth inning.
After allowing a lead off single to Montgomery, Fuller (L, 5+ IP, 3 R, 7 H, 2 BB, 2 K) gave way to Jackson Miles (Brescia U) and things began to fall apart for the Jr. Chiefs. The first pitch Miles threw flew off the bat of catcher Tyler Barrett (Central Connecticut St U) and landed over the left field wall. The two-run homerun gave the Salt Cats a 4-1 lead.
The Salt Cats weren’t done there, however, as they soon found themselves with two men on and one out after back-to-back singles. Guzman came up to the plate and drilled a two-run triple to deep right field, extending the Salt Cats lead to five.
The Salt Cats then turned to their bullpen in the sixth to close out the game after taking out Schonfeld (W, 5 IP, 1 R, 6 H, 2 BB, 3 K). Connor Nolan (Le Moyne Col) came on to pitch and gave up back-to-back singles to start the sixth. After a fielder’s choice, he struck out Jr. Chiefs outfielder Gary Jones (Delaware U of).
Just as it seemed that the home team would squander yet another scoring opportunity, Sinay came up big with a two-out RBI single, cutting the JR. Chiefs deficit to four. That brought up Pigna with men on first and second with two outs. Pigna worked deep into the count, and beat out a slow roller to short to load the bases.
With the bases loaded and two outs, Mathis, who came in after Caruso’s ejection, found himself in another clutch situation. After previously popping up, he came up big with a two run bloop double to shallow left to cut the score to 6-4.
Nolan (2/3 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 1 K) exited the game and gave way to lefty reliever Raymond Messner (Ave Maria U) with men on second and third and two outs. The Jr. Chiefs had their clean up hitter (Susaña) at the plate, but were unable to keep the rally going as Susaña popped up to right field.
The Jr. Chiefs brought in lefty reliever Alan Komorowski (Washington U) in the seventh to keep the deficit at two. Despite allowing back-to-back two out walks, Komorowski escaped the inning unscathed after forcing Tucker Starkey (Ave Maria U) to fly out to center.
The Jr. Chiefs attempted one final comeback in the bottom of the seventh inning. Pat Wright reached base to lead off the inning after getting hit in the arm, but Ryan Clark grounded into a double play, leaving it up to catcher Gabe Levanti (Virginia Tech U) to keep things alive.
Levanti and shortstop Kenny Hostrander (Eastern Kentucky U) drilled back-to-back two out singles and pinch hitter Brian Burns (Ithaca Col) drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases. Sinay stepped up and after a past ball brought the Chiefs within one, he flied out to center field to end the game. The Jr. Chiefs valiant effort came up just a bit short and they dropped game two of the doubleheader.
The Salt Cats took game one of the doubleheader 7-2 behind a dominant offensive performance from Colton Montgomery and a gutsy pitching performance from starting pitcher Ian Drapcho.
The Salt Cats got on the board early after a one-out bunt single by Morton. Michael DeCarr (SUNY Cortland) followed with a single to put runners on the corners. After Clarke struck out Fiorito, Montgomery drilled a double to deep right and gave the Salt Cats a 2-0 lead.
The Jr. Chiefs countered with a run in the bottom of the second, despite not recording a hit. Salt Cats starter Ian Drapcho (Walsh U) got himself in to trouble, as he walked four batters in the inning.
After Drapcho walked the bases loaded, Kyle Feazell (Louisiana Col) couldn’t handle a pitch in the dirt and was charged with a past ball. Brian Burns (Ithaca Col) scored on the play, cutting the Jr. Chiefs deficit to one.
The Salt Cats answered right back in the top half of the third though, after DeCarr and Fiorito got on base with two outs. Montgomery struck again with a line drive to right center and plated two more, increasing the Salt Cats lead to three.
The Salt Cats broke the game open in the fifth and chased Jr. Chiefs starter Sam Clarke (Mt. Union Col) from the game. After Clarke (L, 4 1/3 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 1 BB, 2 K) retired the leadoff batter, the Salt Cats recorded back-to-back singles and Jr. Chiefs manager Chris Haynes brought in reliever Brian Santangelo (Pennsylvania Col of Technology) to stop the bleeding.
Santangelo (2 2/3 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 1 BB, 2K) failed to do so, however, as Montgomery (3-5, 2 2B, 5 RBI) came through with an RBI single (his fifth RBI of the day) before a two-run single from Zach Carlino (Mt. Union Col). The three run inning gave the Salt Cats a dominating 7-1 lead.
The Jr. Chiefs were unable to muster up much offense against Drapcho (W, 5 1P, 1 R, 1 H, 7 BB, 3 K despite seven walks allowed from the Salt Cats righty. After he left the game, the Salt Cats bullpen took care of business the rest of the way.
Shane Cochran (Saginaw Valley St U) relieved Drapcho and tossed three shutout innings (4 H, 1BB, 1K) before giving way to Landon Holifield (Ft Scott CC) in the ninth.
The Chiefs were more aggressive against Holifield and were able to tack on one more in the ninth, thanks to a bases loaded sacrifice fly from catcher John Cialone (Villanova U), but were unable to complete the comeback as Hostrander struck out with men on first and second to end the game.
After getting swept by the Salt Cats (6-3), the Jr. Chiefs dropped to .500 at 5-5. They will host another doubleheader tomorrow against the Oneonta Outlaws (4-3). First pitch for game one is scheduled for 3:00 p.m., and game two is slated to begin at 6:00 p.m.
Leave a Reply