By Taylor Nigrelli
NIAGARA, NY — Missed throws, wild pitches and misplayed balls were the story Friday night as the Niagara Power (6-6) fell to the Geneva Red Wings (4-5) 12-7 in New York Collegiate Baseball League action at Sal Maglie Field in Niagara Falls.
The Niagara defense committed eight errors including five between the fifth and seventh innings in which the Red Wings broke a 2-2 tie and scored 10 runs.
“We didn’t attack the baseball,” Niagara Coach Josh Rebandt said. “We let the baseball eat us up and when you do that, you’re going to see errors.”
Ryan Brasser (Northwestern), the newest addition to the Power, got the start for Niagara. He allowed three runs (two earned) and walked two in four and two-thirds innings pitched. According to Rebandt, Brasser was pulled early because he’s on a pitch limit.
“We didn’t necessarily have a set pitching count,” Rebandt said. “We were thinking somewhere between 50-75 pitches.”
Immediately after Brasser’s removal, the floodgates seemed to open as relievers Caleb Jordan (Clearwater Christian), Sam Whim (Mid-America Nazarene) and Josh Barmoy (Chowan) allowed nine runs over the next two innings. Due to fielding errors, only four of these runs were earned. Rebandt still wasn’t totally willing to let his bullpen off the hook, though.
“I wouldn’t say I’m pleased with our pitching,” Rebandt said. “We’re still walking a lot of guys late in the game and when you do that, it’s going to hurt you. Walks kill. Especially late in the game when you’re trying to put runs across and you’re trying to hold runs.
“Our guys need to get ahead of the hitters better. These guys have been successful before. I’ve seen them be successful. In this league you just have to have a quick memory. If you don’t have a quick memory, you’re going to fail.”
Nick Myers (St. Michaels) earned the win for Geneva, going six innings and giving up two runs. Myers kept the Power off base all night and, aside from a two-out, two-run double by Perry Rigby (Covenant), he was nearly perfect.
“I thought Myers threw the ball well,” Rebandt said. “He’s a good pitcher. He’s got a little sinker, he’s got a good change-up. After the first inning I saw a lot of grounders. So he’s got some late movement and guys are beating it into the ground. If you can do that and pound the strike zone, you’re going to get outs.”
After falling behind by 10, the Power attempted to stage a late rally. They scored five runs in the eighth inning including two on a Michael Kerr (Houghton) home run. They then loaded the bases in the ninth inning but were unable to get a run across. Rebandt believes the late surge could be beneficial heading into tomorrow’s action.
“It’s hard to play catch up after having eight errors,” Rebandt said. “When you get that late in a game, especially after having a bad game, you get those late runs, it kind of gives you momentum going into the next game. It’s kind of like golf; you make a nice putt on the 18th hole and you’ll come back well the next day.”
Rebandt is optimistic the Power can bounce back well.
“Tomorrow’s a different day,” he said. “We’ll come in with a different mindset.”
The Power will face off against the Red Wings again Saturday at 7 p.m. at Sal Maglie Field before heading to Geneva for the final two games of the set.
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