By Paul Gotham
GENEVA, NY – It’s early in the season, but Geneva’s Twins have already made a habit of playing games decided by the smallest of margins.
Monday night was no different.
Tommy Mazurkiewicz (Wagner College) delivered a walkoff base hit as the Twins came from behind to defeat the Syracuse Jr. Chiefs, 3-2 in New York Collegiate Baseball League action at McDonough Park.
Mazurkiewicz, a late-inning pinch hitter, drove a two-strike curveball through the left side of a drawn infield plating Walt Roman (Rochester Institute of Technology) with the winning run as the Twins won for the second time in three games.
“The first two pitches were up in the zone,” Mazurkiewicz explained. “I just wanted to make him work, wanted to make him throw me a couple of strikes. There were bases open, and he couldn’t walk me. It probably would have been ball three, but at that point I just wanted to hit the ball hard. I got a pitch low and stayed with it.”
Walt Roman singled back through the box to lead the stanza. One out later brother Mike Roman (St. John Fisher) sent a flair into right center putting runners on the corners. The Jr. Chiefs elected to load the bases with an intentional walk to Ryan Johns (Hanover) setting the stage for Mazurkiewicz.
“There’s nobody else I wanted in there,” said Geneva head coach Nick Callahan. “I’m always thinking about guys who can pinch hit in certain spots. He’s been the guy. I didn’t have a doubt in my mind he was going to get the job done.”
Mazurkiewicz came on to pinch hit in the eighth. With the Twins trailing 2-1, he fouled off three pitches before getting a Thomas Jordan (Northwood) offering he liked and driving a base hit into left field. He moved to second on a Greg Davis (Louisiana-Lafayette) ground out. Mazurkiewicz advanced another 90 feet on a Josh Cassidy (Arkansas Pine Bluff) ground ball and eventually scored on a Robert Weller (Pomona-Pitzer) wild pitch.
The game was an exercise in frustration for the Jr. Chiefs who put a runner in scoring position in each of the first eight innings but could not capitalize to put away the Twins. Syracuse stranded a dozen runners.
“That’s just the way we’ve been playing,” stated Syracuse head coach Chris Haynes. “Seventeen games in and we’ve had the opportunities all year we just need that one big hit or one or two in a row that’s going to break it open. Honestly, if we can get bases loaded and we hit a double, the next guy gets a single. We get those runs in a row; that’s going to be the turning point.”
Michael Bittel (Seton Hill) gets little to show for his efforts. The right-hander allowed just one run over seven full for the Jr. Chiefs. Bittel fanned five, walked two and allowed five hits.
“That’s the second start in a row he’s pitched his butt off,” Haynes said of his starter. “It was great getting into the seventh with a bunch of strike outs and he kept us in the game. I’ve been telling our guys from the start if we give up one, two or three runs, we should be able to come out with more wins than losses.”
Geneva got on the board first.
Ryan Johns (Hanover) doubled to start the first. Two outs later Johns advanced on a wild pitch, and Cassidy brought him home with an RBI base hit.
Syracuse knotted the score in the third. Aaron Pigna (Ave Maria) worked a leadoff walk. Alex Caruso (St. John’s) followed with single putting runners on the corners. Stanley Susana (St. Thomas Aquinas) finished the job with an RBI line drive into left field.
The Jr. Chiefs took advantage of another leadoff walk in the eighth. John Cialone (Villanova) earned the free pass this time. One out later, Brian Burns (Ithaca) singled. With runners on first and second, Connor Martin (Clarkson) drilled a shot into left. When the ball was mishandled, Cialone turned the corner and headed for home.
The one-run game was the seventh Geneva (5-8) has played already this season. The Twins are 4-3 in games decided by one run.
“We don’t like to play anything but one-run games,” Callahan joked. “It’s going to be good trying to get into the playoffs. The guys certainly aren’t tight when they get into those spots. They just automatically assume we’re going to win the game in the bottom of the ninth. We’ve got good last at bats out of the guys.”
The Twins used the Johnny whole-staff approach on the mound with seven different hurlers toeing the rubber. Zach Verner (John Carroll) set down the Jr. Chiefs in order in the ninth for his first win of the season.
Zac Connelly (U of Tampa) took the loss.
The Jr. Chiefs (8-9) fell below .500 for the first time this season.
The same two teams meet Tuesday afternoon in Syracuse. First pitch at Hopkins Road Park is scheduled for 1 p.m.
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