By Kyle Conklin
GENEVA, NY — In a dramatic game at McDonough Park in Geneva the hometown Geneva Red Wings came away with a 4-3 come from behind walk off win in the bottom of the eleventh.
Brian Weightman (St. Bonaventure) sent the fans home happy with a walk off single over the right fielder’s head scoring Ricky Moses (Neumann College).
Much of the credit however goes to the Wings pitching staff. As a unit they allowed just four hits while striking out eight. Red Wing starter Robert Grippo (Bergen CC) gave up just one hit and one run over six innings of work. Relievers Jason Meger (North Park University) and George Martin (Columbia University) bridged the gap to closer Zach Augustine (Johns Hopkins) who worked a perfect eleventh to earn the win.
The Salt Cats got on the board in the top of the first inning thanks to a leadoff walk by Carlos Guzman (Molloy College). After Guzman advanced to third on two stolen bases he was driven in on an RBI ground out by Michael DeCarr (SUNY Cortland) to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
The Red Wings were able to scratch across their first run of the game in the bottom of the fourth. John Dockins (Kutztown University) earned a leadoff walk after working out of an 0-2 count. Dockins then advanced to second on a passed ball and moved 90 feet on a sacrifice fly by Lee Miller (Davidson College).
After a Casey Fox walk (Haverford College) Dockins crossed the plate on an Andrew Gronski (Case Western Reserve) sacrifice fly to tie up the ball game.
Syracuse took back the lead in the top of the sixth inning. After the first two batters of the inning were retired Guzman advanced to first on a walk. Anthony Massicci (Canisius College) followed with the first hit of the game for the Salt Cats, a double to the right field wall scoring Guzman all the way from first base to make the score 2-1.
After a scoreless seventh and eighth innings the Salt Cats were able to tack on an insurance run in the top of the ninth inning thanks to a Zach Carlino (Mt. Union College) double scoring Michael Decarr. However the Salt Cats would prove unable to hold the lead.
The Wings mounted their comeback in the bottom of the ninth. Gronski and Scott Shields (Cuesta College) reached to start off the inning. Ricky Moses hit a hard ground ball which was snagged by Salt Cat reliever Ray Messner (Ave Maria) who started the 1-6-3 double play. However the Wings would not lay down that easy. Weightman pushed across the Wings second run with an RBI single. After a Brandon Costa (Concord University) single Wings center fielder Zak Worsley (North Park University) plated Weightman with a base hit sending the game into extra innings.
After a scoreless tenth, Ricky Moses hit a one out double in the bottom of the eleventh to get the inning going. Next up was Brian Weightman who sent a deep fly ball to the right field wall scoring Moses and capping the comeback win for the Red Wings.
With the win Geneva improves to 7-6 as Syracuse falls to 7-6. The two teams will meet in a rematch Wednesday night back at McDonough Park. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00.
Leave a Reply