By Trey Didio
SHERRILL, NY — The Sherrill Silversmiths broke a 3-3 tie in the fifth inning to beat the Olean Oilers in a New York Collegiate Baseball League contest at Noyes Park. The win stopped a five-game losing streak for the Smitties.
Sherrill’s bats were alive early as they plated three runners in the first frame. Dylin Eschenburg (Saginaw Valley State) walked and proceeded to steal second base. First baseman Zack Kessinger (Washington University at St. Louis) picked up an RBI single to right field.
Skyler Geissinger (SIU-Edwardsville) then hit a sharp ground ball past the third baseman, good for a double. Mike Piscopo (Northeastern) recorded an RBI single to right field of his own. Geissinger held at third but scored later as the next batter Matt Ederle (Rhode Island) grounded to short.
The Oilers did not go down without fighting, however. In the following inning, Olean loaded the bases with no outs after two singles sandwiched a walk. Sherrill starter Kevin Carpentier (Finger Lakes) settled down and induced an infield fly. He struck out the next batter and followed that with a popup in foul territory to escape the jam unharmed.
“Any time you can get out of a bases loaded jam with no runs is obviously a great accomplishment. Kevin really battled to get out of that jam and any other jam he was in tonight,” Sherrill skipper Dennis Duffy said.
The Oilers bounced back in the third inning and pushed a run across thanks to an RBI single from catcher Kody Johnston (Brewton Parker College). Johnston had a solid day behind the dish as well as hitting, as he picked up three hits and two RBI to go with a walk.
Olean tied the game at 3-3 in the fifth frame with two runs. Leadoff batter Bradley Smith (Bloomsburg) walked and reached third as shortstop Lee Grosscup (Mount Union) doubled to left. Carpentier induced a grounder to second, but Smith had to hold at third with the infield in.
Mike Fahrman (Florida) hit a sacrifice fly to left and Grosscup moved to third on the throw home. Johnston singled him in, picking up his second RBI of the day.
The Silversmiths did not lose the lead for long as they regained advantage in the bottom of the frame. Leadoff hitter Mike Bunal (Binghamton) reached on an error and stole second. After two consecutive outs, Geissinger singled him home for what proved to be the winning run.
“It was big getting that last RBI and taking the lead,” said Geissinger, who plays his college ball at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.
Josh Webb relieved Carpentier to start the seventh inning. Carpentier threw six innings while giving up three runs (two earned) on five hits and two walks. He also struck out four. Webb allowed one hit and struck out a batter in his two innings of scoreless work.
Duffy decided to let the hero at the plate for Sherrill, Geissinger, finish the game and nail down the save. He set down the Oilers in order as Grosscup launched a fly ball near the wall in right that was hauled down by Josh Griffith (Fort Scott) to end the game.
“I love saving. It’s always fun to come in and finish the game, especially when you do it well like that,” Geissinger said.
Sherrill picked up a much-needed victory and improved to 9-12 on the season. They host the Syracuse Junior Chiefs in a doubleheader on Wednesday at Noyes Park.
“We’ve been on a little bit of a skid but we’ve been battling to get on the right side of things,” Duffy said.
Max Beermann (Villanova) picked up his first loss of the season after surrendering four runs on eight hits and three walks. He struck out two hitters for the game. Olean dropped to 17-7, yet still holds down the first-place spot in the NYCBL.
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