By Paul Gotham
GENEVA, NY – Winners of three straight, the Syracuse Salt Cats looked primed to grab a share of first place in the New York Collegiate Baseball League.
Geneva’s Twins had other plans.
Josh Cassidy (Arkansas Pine Bluff) connected on a bases loaded walk off single as the Twins rallied late to complete a doubleheader sweep (12-6/3-2) of the Salt Cats in NYCBL action at McDonough Park.
Cassidy drove a fastball away from Ray Messner (Ave Maria) into right center plating Tommy Mazurkiewicz (Wagner) with the game winner as the Twins got revenge for a pair of recent losses at the hands of the Salt Cats.
“I was looking for a pitch up to get a sacrifice fly out of it,” Cassidy said. “Luckily, I got a pitch that tailed away from me, and I just drove it to right field.”
As the teams edge closer to the midway point on the season the victories pull the Twins within three games of the Syracuse Jr. Chiefs and the sixth and final playoff spot.
“It gives us a lot of confidence,” Cassidy said of the wins. “We got something to build off with these two wins. Go into the next game and hopefully we get another win.”
Mazurkiewicz, the hero earlier in the week, started the inning with a base hit. After struggling for much of the afternoon, the Neshanic Station, NJ native lined a first pitch fastball from Connor Nolan (Le Moyne) into right center.
“It was a very rough day for me,” Mazurkiewicz commented. “It’s hard to stay positive when you’re struggling. Nick (head coach Callahan) told me before my at bat ‘just wipe it all clean. It’s a new at bat.’ He told me actually to pretend that I’m pinch-hitting for myself, and it worked out well.”
Greg Davis (Louisiana-Lafayette) pulled back on a sacrifice bunt attempt and slapped a single into right field.
“I didn’t want him to go down bunting,” Callahan explained. “He’s one of our best hitters. We had a fake bunt on the first one, and then we did fake bunt, hit and run. Maz missed the hit and run sign, but Greg crushed it so it didn’t matter.”
Kirby Campbell (Arkansas Pine Bluff) loaded the bases when he beat out a sacrifice bunt down the third base line.
Alex Leighton (Flagler) started and went six innings for the Twins. Errors led to both runs allowed by the right-hander.
“That was a really tough game,” Leighton stated. “I battled non-stop to just keep throwing strikes and let my defense do the job.”
The Salt Cats jumped to a one-run lead in the first.
Carlos Guzman (Molloy) singled over the bag at third. Bud Morton (Southern) moved the runner with a sacrifice walk. Cristian Fiorito (Concordia) walked. Colton Montgomery (Georgia Coll & St. U) beat a shot into the ground which took a wild bounce over the head of Geneva third baseman, Walt Roman (R.I.T). When the ball was mishandled in the outfield, Guzman took advantage and scampered home.
Syracuse added a run in third. Mike DeCarr (SUNY Cortland) and Fiorito led with back-to-back base hits. DeCarr attempted to steal third. When John Lynn’s (Wagner) throw from behind the plate sailed into left field, the Jr. Chiefs had a 2-0 edge.
But this day was about the Twins.
Michael Roman (St. John Fisher) started the fifth with a walk. Dan Iturrey (Emory) followed suit and got a free pass. Davis went with the two-strike pitch and slapped a two-out single to right center knotting the score at two apiece.
“It’s huge. You can’t lose a series,” Callahan said when asked about the importance of the wins. “I think it’s the first two wins in a row we’ve had all year.”
Karney Boff (Massachussetts-Dartmouth) came on got the final three outs for the win.
Geneva took advantage of two Syracuse errors in the first inning of the opener and put a six-spot on the Big Mac scoreboard. Travis Rosenwinkel (Niagara) highlighted the stanza with two-out bloop single scoring Trey West (Le Moyne) and Andrew Goldstick (Washington U).
“That’s baseball at this level,” said Syracuse head coach Mike Martinez when asked about the rough first inning. “That team was a little bit better than us today.”
Fiorito delivered a bases loaded single in the third, when the ball got by the Geneva right-fielder, the Salt Cats capitalized scoring three and cutting the lead in half.
Syracuse got as close as 7-5 in the fourth, but the Twins never looked back.
Davis led the fifth with a double, and the Twins caught fire. West walked. One out later, Tommy Haas (Arkansas Pine Bluff) drove in one as did Eric Alcantara (Arkansas Pine Bluff). Iturrey and Campbell drove home two more as the Twins had an insurmountable 11-5 lead.
Both contests consisted of seven innings as the games were a makeup from previous rainouts.
Nick Hedge (Penn State) got the win in game one.
Max Schonfeld (Molloy) took the loss.
Mazurkiewicz singled and scored the tying in the eighth inning last Monday. He followed that with a walk-off base hit as the Twins beat the Syracuse Jr. Chiefs, 3-2.
The Twins improve to 6-10.
Syracuse falls 10-7.
The Twins host Oneonta’s Outlaws on Monday night.
The Salt Cats get a day off before hosting the Sherrill Silversmiths on Tuesday.
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