By Paul Gotham
GENEVA, NY – What a difference a day can make.
Twenty-four hours after being no-hit for five innings, the Syracuse Salt Cats exploded with 19 hits on the way to a convincing 8-1 victory over the Geneva Red Wings in New York Collegiate Baseball League action at McDonough Park, Tuesday night.
Christian Fiorito (Concordia) drilled a two-run home run over the scoreboard in right field as the Salt Cats put the game out of reach in the seventh.
“I saw in the previous at bat he (Geneva pitcher Lee Pennzarella/Case Western) was kinda struggling to find the zone,” Fiorito explained. “He threw a get-me-over pitch on the first pitch of my at bat. He came with the same exact pitch, and I happened to barrel it up.”
Fiorito plated Tucker Starkey (Ave Maria) with his second home run of the season as the Salt Cats took an insurmountable 7-0 advantage.
After striking out in his first at bat of the evening, Fiorito adjusted and finished with three hits and three RBI.
“It’s a game of adjustments,” Fiorito noted. “I actually went from a 34 to a 33 (bat size). My first at bat I saw my bat was lagging through the zone. I went down to a 33. My coach told me to do it, and thank God I got three hits in my next three at bats.”
After leaving the bases loaded in the second and a runner in scoring position in the first, the Salt Cats broke through on Fiorito’s RBI single in the third bringing home Bud Morton (Southern).
“They were the better team last night,” said Syracuse Salt Cat skipper Mike Martinez. “These kids came back tonight. We asked them to do a little bit more, work a little harder. At the end of the day we came out on top.”
Morton came around to score in the fifth and was part of three-run sixth as the Salt Cats pulled away for the win. The speedy shortstop created perpetual distraction for Geneva pitchers as he reached base three times, stole two bases and scored three runs.
“He creates a lot of commotion,” Martinez said of Morton. “He hits well. He runs well. He plays very good defense. He’s deceivingly strong for a smaller guy.”
“I just try to keep the pitcher’s mind on me, so they forget about the batter and leave one up,” Morton commented. “The pitchers are going to throw a lot more fastballs to give the catcher a chance to throw me out. I tell the batters behind me if I get on, get ready to hit because you’re going to get a fastball.”
Early on it looked like the Salt Cats were on their way to a third straight loss to the Red Wings. Besides leaving runners on base, a pair of Salt Cats were thrown out at home. With Colton Montgomery (Georgia Coll and St. U) on second after a leadoff double, Carlos Guzman (Molloy) rapped a two-out single to right field. Geneva’s Bret Viola (Stevens Inst of Tech) came up throwing and delivered a strike on a hop to Dustin Arnold (Alvernia) for the easy out at home to end the threat and the inning.
One frame later, Viola played a Fiorito double off the wall and hit Andrew Gronski (Case Western Reserve) to get Starkey at the dish.
But the Salt Cats were not to be denied on this night.
“They woke a sleeping giant last night,” Morton said. “We were pretty furious, and we knew we had to come out and win. They got us two out of three times we played, so we came out today and just had a mindset of not losing.”
Daniel Szathmary (Georgia Coll & St. U) kept the Geneva bats in check and gave his offense a chance to gain momentum. The right-hander allowed two hits and three walks while fanning two over five shutout innings.
Kyle Cushman (Onondaga CC) allowed a run on two hits in two innings pitched.
Shane Cochran (Saginaw Valley St) retired all six batters he faced striking out four.
“Last night was the same deal,” Martinez said. “We had (Ian) Drapcho. He goes hard. We bring in (Lou) Liberatore and (Sean) Pisik. We’re winning the game, and I bring in someone who I consider to be one of the best closers in the league. The guy just had an off night.”
Montgomery finished with four hits on the night.
Adam Brant (SUNY Purchase) took the loss. He is 1-1 on the season.
Geneva scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth before defeating Syracuse, 4-3 on Monday night. The Red Wings also took a 10-5 decision between the two teams on June 20th.
Szathmary is als0 1-1.
With the win, the Salt Cats (8-6) keep pace with first place Olean (11-5). Syracuse is tied for third two games out of first with the Oneonta Outlaws.
Geneva falls to 7-7 and is three games out of first.
The Salt Cats host the Geneva Twins on Thursday. A 5 p.m. first pitch is scheduled at LeMoyne College.
The Red Wings host the Hornell Dodgers (8-8) for a 7 p.m. start.
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