Smitties edge the Twins in fifteen innings, 1-0

SHERRILL, NY — Normally, pitching nine shutout innings is good enough for a win. Saturday evening at Noyes Park was anything but normal.

Alex Leighton (Flagler) and Josh Griffith (Fort Scott CC) locked horns in a battle of pitching prowess; the two hurlers held the opposing bats in check and left the game to be decided in extra innings.

Douglas Putkowski (Suffolk County CC) plated Dylin Eschenburg (Saginaw Valley St.) with a walkoff single in the bottom of the 15^th inning as the Sherrill Silversmiths trimmed the Geneva Twins, 1-0 in New York Collegiate Baseball League action.

Eschenburg led the 15^th with a walk off Geneva reliever, Casey MacClaren (Cazenovia).  The Sherrill infielder stole second base setting up the opportunity for the winning run.

Skyler Geissinger (SIU-Edwardsville) tossed six shutout stanzas for his first win of the season. The right-hander struck out two, walked one and allowed four hits.

MacClaren was saddled with his second loss the campaign. The right-hander walked three and allowed three hits in two and two-thirds innings of relief.

Griffith and Leighton sent the game to extra innings with plenty of zeroes on the scoreboard.

Griffith struck out two, walked three and surrendered three hits over nine full.

Leighton fanned four, handed out two free passes and gave up five hits.

Zach Nadolny (St. Mary’s Coll of Maryland) pitched two and a third scoreless for the Twins.

The hit was Putkowski’s second of the night. Geissinger also had a pair of hits as did Zack Kessinger (Washington).

Walter Roman (Rochester Institute of Technology) had two base raps for the Twins.

Geneva and Sherrill have split four games so far this season with each contest being decided by one run.

The 14 and a half scoreless innings is the most of its kind in NYCBL history.  The 15-inning game is one of five in the NYCBL since 2006. The longest game during that period is a 19-inning marathon between Amsterdam and Little Falls on July 26^th, 2007. Little Falls got a walk off grand slam for a 6-2 triumph.

The Geneva Red Wings and Allegany County Nitros played an 18-inning battle in 2008.

The game contained a pair of controversial call affecting the opposing sides. Both teams lost an apparent home run.

Both teams get a day off on Sunday. Sherrill (8-7) hosts a double-header with the Oneonta Outlaws (7-6) on Monday.

Geneva (4-8) welcomes the Syracuse Jr. Chiefs (8-8) to McDonough Park, Monday night for a 7 p.m. first pitch.