By Kevin Smith
WEBSTER, NY – The Rochester Ridgemen hitting put on quite the show.
Matthew Simmons (Hendrix) and Nick Wolyniec (Siena) paced a 19-hit attack as Rochester routed the Geneva Twins 12-1 in New York Collegiate Baseball League action Sunday night at Basket Road Field.
“We definitely put on a hitting clinic,” Coach Taylor Hargrove said. “It’s good to see the bats wake up a bit after a couple games before.”
The Ridgemen offense got things started in the first inning.
After Ridgemen second baseman KC Simons (Covenant) stole third base, Wolyniec scorched a two-out RBI double to right to score Simons and make it 1-0 Ridgemen.
The Ridgemen increased their lead in the second. Third baseman Matthew Graben (Montevallo) and Simons hit a pair of run-scoring singles to bump the Ridgemen lead to 3-0.
Center fielder Taylor Empkey (Eastfield) added to lead with a sacrifice fly and an RBI to bring Graben and up the Ridgemen lead to 4-0.
Leading 7-1 in the sixth, the Ridgemen did some damage in the inning.
Empkey scored the first run of the inning on a wild pitch to give Rochester an 8-1 lead.
With the bases loaded for Simmons, the right fielder hit a line drive single to knock in catcher Joshua Davis (Whitworth) and the Ridgemen a 9-1 lead.
With the bases loaded again, left fielder Josh Turner (Patrick Henry) walked in a run to score Wolyniec for a 10-1 Ridgemen lead.
The Ridgemen tacked on another run to close up the inning when Graben hit an RBI groundout to make it 11-1 Rochester.
“I’m glad the bats woke up today,” Coach Hargrove added. “Our guys are grinding out with this tough schedule.”
The Geneva Twins lone run was scored in the top of the fourth as right fielder Eric Alcantara (Arkansas Pine Bluff) hit a run scoring single to knock in first baseman Tommy Mazurkiewicz (Wagner).
Ridgemen starting pitcher CJ King pitched a quality outing on the mound. The righty went seven innings, allowed one run on eight hits, striking out one.
“Big Sip (King) did great for us tonight,” Coach Hargrove added. “This was his best start for a pitcher that usually comes out of the bullpen and the offense really helped his cause.”
King notched his second win of the season and improved his ERA to 2.81.
Ridgemen first baseman Wolyniec had a great night at the plate. The righty batter went 3-for-4 at the plate with three runs batted in and three runs scored. Simmons also had a hitting clinic at the dish. Simmons went 4-for-5 with two runs batted in.
Seven of the nine batters in the Ridgemen lineup tonight had two hits or more. The Ridgemen all strung together 19 hits against Twins pitching.
The Ridgemen have one six of their last nine games and currently have a four game win streak at The Basket.
Rochester hosts Niagara, Monday for a 7 p.m. first pitch.
Geneva travels to Oneonta on Tuesday.
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