By Alicia Daddario
SYRACUSE, NY — The Syracuse Salt Cats (16-14) are now on a three-game win streak thanks to outstanding pitching, hot bats, and a team who is playing together for a common goal: to WIN. The Cats were victorious in both games Sunday afternoon against the Sherrill Silversmiths, winning the first game 8-6 and the second 6-1.
Cristian Fiorito (Concordia), talked about how the team is avoiding the pressure of playoffs and playing through the fatigue of seven games in four days: “We just try to take it one day at a time and try to perform the best as you can everyday.”
Game one was an All-Star pitching match up as Max Schonfeld (Molloy) took the mound for Syracuse facing off against Sherrill’s Josh Griffith (Ft. Scott CC). While neither pitcher had a stellar outing, the offensive performance by both teams made for an interesting game.
The Salt Cats wasted no time, striking first with two quick runs to put themselves ahead of the Silversmiths. Starting at third base, Anthony Massicci (Canisius) led things off with a walk. Bud Morton (Southern) showed off his speed, beating out a bunt single to put a runner in scoring position for the team’s RBI leader, Fiorito. As expected, Fiorito capitalized on the opportunity with a single to left field as Massicci was waved home. Clean up hitter, Colton Montgomery (Georgia Coll & St. U.) continued his hot streak with a RBI single, scoring Morton for the second run of the game.
Salt Cats led 2-0 after one inning.
The Smitties answered right back in the top of the second with four runs of their own. Blaze Tom (Fort Scott CC) made his way on base with a walk and ended up on second as Schonfeld tried to pick him off but overthrew Fiorito as first. Next up, Richard Guglielmi (Saginaw Valley St.) earned an RBI with a single to left field and advanced to third on a wild pitch.
Connor Breslin (Maryland Eastern Shore) hit a grounder to Mike DeCarr (SUNY Cortland) at third, and Guglielmi bolted for home. DeCarr nailed him at the plate for out number one. With Breslin on base, Andre Kashou (Tampa) singled to right field followed by a walk to Mark Sherlock (Marywood) to load the bases. Back to the top of the order, Mike Bunal (Binghamton) got a hold of one for a bases clearing triple to left center field giving the Silversmiths a 4-2 lead.
Syracuse took back the lead in the bottom of the second as four Cats crossed the plate all with two outs. Massicci, replaced the injured Guzman batting in the lead off position, did his job of getting on base with a single. Morton drove the ball to left field, rounding third and safely arriving at home was Massicci. Fiorito came up to the plate and crushed the ball out of the park, a two-run shot to right field.
“My teammates, whoever hits before me, always gets on base. I give credit to those guys. I just try to put the ball in play. It takes pressure off me whenever our guys are on base. I definitely like hitting with guys on base,” Firotito said about situational hitting.
With this home run, Fiorito recorded his 30th RBI and now holds the Salt Cats single season record for RBI, good enough to pass his brother, Dan. Montgomery let the ball fly with a home run of his own, a solo bomb to right center field. The back-to-back home runs for Syracuse put them ahead of the Smitties 6-4.
Sherrill would tack on two more runs on the game in the third. Zack Kessinger (Washington) started things off with a double to over the head of Montgomery in left field. Scoring him was Skyler Geissinger (SIU-Edwardsville) with a double of his own. Tom hit an RBI single right back up the middle, which scored the sixth and final run for the Silversmiths.
Shutting down the Sherrill offense for the Salt Cats was Sean Pisik (Ursinus), who has had an underrated yet phenomenal season, and Ray Messner (Ave Maria), who picked up the save. Pisik was credited with the win after pitching one and two thirds innings, giving up two hits and not allowing a run. Messner pitched a scoreless seventh with one strikeout.
Going into the bottom of the fifth, the game was tied at six. However, the Salt Cats came up big with two key runs that would be the deciding factor for the win. DeCarr singled to right, got himself to second on an error and scored. Ben Sawyer (Alvernia) walked and scored on a Tyler Kirwan (Massachusetts-Boston) RBI double for their eighth and final run of the game. Salt Cats went on to win 8-6.
The second game was highlighted by a stellar pitching performance by Mike Rynerson (St. John Fisher) and another explosive offense from the Salt Cats. Rynerson pitched the complete seventh innings, only allowing one run on five hits and impressively striking out five, and described how his arm was feeling going into the evening,
“It felt good. All my stuff was working pretty well. I got it going early on. Kyle Feazell (Louisiana Coll) called a great game (behind the plate), so we were on the same page.”
His opponent for Sherrill, Edward Zakrzewski (Mohawk Valley CC) was taken out after three and 2/3 innings after giving up three earned runs (six runs total), eight hits with one strikeout. Rynerson’s only mistake came in the top of the second when Matthew Ederle (Rhode Island) hit a high fly ball over the left field fence for the lone Silversmith run of the game.
After that, it was all Syracuse. The Salt Cats opened the scoring gates up in the bottom of the fourth inning where they batted around and scored all six runs of the game. Third baseman DeCarr initiated things with a walk which put a man on the base path for Tyler Barrett (Central Conn. St.). A monster swing from the designated hitter, knocked the ball over the fence at Rockwell gave the Cats a 2-1 lead.
Again with two outs, Mike Mascari (SUNY Oswego) got an infield single and came around to score on a Massicci RBI double. Morton put down a perfectly placed bunt for an infield single.While stealing second, the throw from the catcher was too high allowing Massicci to score and Morton to go to third. A wild pitch ensued, and Morton easily crosses the plate giving the Salt Cats a 5-1 lead. Fiorito continued his hot hitting with a sweet swing that carried the ball right out of the park for another RBI. This six run scoring frenzy was enough for the Salt Cats to win their third straight and sweep the Silversmiths for the day.
Syracuse has moved up in the standings, as they sit in the fourth spot in the league. The Salt Cats look to continue these winning ways Monday night as it is Sherrill’s turn to be the host of a double header. Games are scheduled for 3 and 5pm.
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