By Paul Gotham
WEBSTER, NY – What a difference ten days can make. Olean’s Oilers started the 2013 season 0-2, a pair of games in which the Oilers managed a combined three runs and three hits.
Sunday, the Oilers showed no resemblance to that anaemic offense.
Olean banged out 22 hits and 19 runs for a doubleheader sweep (11-10/8-3) of the Rochester Ridgemen in New York Collegiate Baseball League action at Basket Road Field.
The Oilers scored three runs on three hits in their final at bat of the opener for a dramatic come-from-behind victory and grabbed a lead they never surrendered in the second stanza of the night cap in support of an impressive pitching performance by Bill Brancatella (Erie CC).
“Our bats are lively. We put up a lot of runs today in both games,” Brancatella stated. “It’s great pitching with a lead behind you.”
Olean tallied three times in the second and added runs in the fourth, fifth and seventh for their fifth win in a row.
“The bats are finding the ball and good things are happening,” commented Oiler head coach Bobby Bell. “These guys like to grind it out every day.”
Joe Chittester (Brewton Parker) started the second inning of the night cap with an infield single. Max Beerman (Villanova) followed with a double off the fence in right field. Casey Gibson plated Chittester with a line drive through the left side of the infield, and the Oilers slick started spreading. Dylan Newton (Lyndon St) brought home Beerman with a ground out. Lucas Weitzel (Eckerd) and Brad Smith (Bloomsburg) loaded the bases with back-to-back base hits. Tim Ravel (Bloomsburg) grounded out, but Newton crossed the plate on the play.
Newton led the fourth with a double and eventually came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Austin Johnson (Tacoma CC).
Mike Fahrman (Florida) started the fifth with a base hit to left field. Chittester walked. Beerman hit into a fielder’s choice putting runners on the corners, and Gibson supplied the RBI with a single to left. Beerman eventually scored on a fly ball off the bat of Newton. When the relay was mishandled at second, Beerman alertly rounded third and headed for home.
Gibson drove in Fahrman in the seventh, and pinch runner Lee Grosscup (Mt. Union) took advantage of an errant throw on a stolen base attempt at third to scamper home for another run and the 8-3 final score.
Brancatella struck out six and walked three over six innings. The 6’6” right-hander allowed eight hits and all three runs (two earned).
“I was able to get my fastball over for strikes,” Brancatella explained. “Then I kept them off balance with my slider. That was working well tonight. I was able to locate it and throw it with some confidence.”
“He wanted it in the seventh,” Bell said of his starter. “I gave him a pitch count and once he got to 100 he was done, but he kept it under 100 before the seventh, so I let him get a chance to get back out there.”
Kyle McLain (Washington and Jefferson) came on with two on and no outs and retired the next three batters. The right-hander struck out two and got a lazy fly ball for the three outs.
Olean shocked the Ridgemen in their final at bat of the first game. Trailing by two, Ravel started the stanza with an infield single in the hole between short and third. Fahrman walked, and Chittester cut the lead in half with a base hit up the middle. After the runners advanced on a wild pitch, Kody Johnston (Brewton Parker) was intentionally walked to set up the force, but Dalton Scarborough walked in a run, and Brad Smith singled to center for the game-winner.
“It’s exciting,” Bell added. “But we gotta keep on these guys to keep at it.”
The teams traded four spots in the first inning of the twinbill.
Johnston kick started the offense with a one-out bases loaded double scoring Johnson and Fahrman. One out later, Gibson singled home Chittester and Johnston.
Rochester responded. Tyler Empkey (Eastfield) walked and moved to third on a double by Josh Davis (Whitworth). Ben Circeo (Bluefield) delivered with a sacrifice fly. Nick Oddo (Cal St. San Bernandino) brought home Davis with a base hit. Patrick Kinney (Lindenwood) kept the spurt alive, and Rochester took advantage of two Olean errors to push across two more.
Rochester tacked on two more in the second as Empkey and Matthew Graben crossed the dish.
Olean regained the lead in the fourth. Ravel connected for a bases loaded single to score Scarbrough and Gibson. Kyle Mann scored on a sacrifice fly by Johnson, and Olean held a 7-6 edge.
The Oilers made it 8-6 in their next at bat. Fahrman doubled to start the frame and moved 90 feet on a ground ball by Chittester. Johnston ground out allowed Fahrman to race down the line.
Rochester rallied in the seventh. Josh Turner (Patrick Henry CC) and Graben chased Trevor Taylor (Tacoma CC) with back-to-back singles. Derk Vail (Sante Fe CC) and looked to have ended the threat. The right-hander throwing side arm struck out the first batter he faced and induced a ground back to the box.
The Ridgemen forged ahead with two outs. Circeo was down 0-2 in the count before working the count full, fouling off a pair of pitches and earning a walk. Oddo scored two with an opposite field hit to left, and Kinney blooped a hit into center bringing home Circeo.
But the lead was short-lived for Rochester.
After starting 0-2, Olean has won seven of eight and is in a virtual tie for first place atop the NYCBL standings.
“I think the first couple of games a lot guys were coming off a week or two break from their college season,” Brancatella explained. “We just needed to get back into that baseball rhythm, and we did.”
Olean has a day off before hosting Wellsville for 5 p.m. start on Tuesday.
Rochester hosts the Sherril Silversmiths for a 7 p.m first pitch on Monday. The game marks the first meeting between the two clubs.
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