By Gina Papineau
WEBSTER, NY — The Rochester Ridgemen and the Niagara Power played back-and-forth baseball Monday night in New York Collegiate Baseball action at Basket Road Field, and Rochester got the better of it winning 11-9.
Niagara started off hot when leadoff hitter Johnny Craig (Georgia Southern) got on base by a line drive straight down the middle. With two outs and a walk before him, Perry Rigby (Covenant) kept the offensive momentum alive with a double, bringing in Craig and Buddy McCoy (Texas Tyler).
The Power increased their lead to 3-0 in the third when Scott Gillespie (Covenant), who was hit by a pitch, scored on a huge hit by McCoy.
The Ridgemen struggled to find an offensive foothold until the fourth inning. Designated hitter Ryan Logan (Christian Brothers) led the charge with a double to left field. He later scored off of a Josh Turner (Patrick Henry) single. Turner advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Ben Circeo (Bluefield), and then scored off of Matt Simmons’ single, leaving the Ridgemen only one run down from the Power.
Craig started off the Power again in the fifth inning with another line drive down the middle, followed by a bunt by Hunter Lewis (Hampden-Sydney). When Rigby stepped up to the plate, he earned a single while allowing Craig and Lewis to score as the Power pulled away from the Ridgemen.
“We played really bad defense today, and that’s not usually the case especially on our turf field, but our guys didn’t give up,” commented Ridgemen Head Coach Taylor Hargrove.
The Ridgemen fought back in the bottom of the fifth when Josh Davis (Whitworth) doubled and plated Taylor Empkey (Eastfield). Davis later scored off the bat of Nick Wolyniec (Siena) who sent a single up the middle. Turner followed Wolyniec with another single up the middle, allowing Wolyniec to score, knotting up the score at 5-5.
Niagara took the lead back in the sixth with a single RBI by Craig. The Power increased their lead by three more runs in the seventh. Rigby singled, allowing Scott Gillespie (Covenant) to score when the tag at first was overthrown. Jimmy Landes (Baylor) tripled and earned two more runs for his team.
Trailing 9-5 going into the bottom of the seventh, the Ridgemen offense retaliated. Leadoff hitter Josh Davis sent the first offering from Caleb Jordan (Clearwater Christian) over the fence in right field. Logan and Wolyniec followed with singles. Logan scored off of a Josh Turner single while Wolyniec scored off a Ben Circeo single.
The Power only led the Ridgemen by one when they changed pitchers, but that didn’t stop the denizens of the Basket. Matt Simmons bunted to load the bases, and Turner later came home on a wild pitch, knotting up the score. Patrick Kinney (Lindenwood) singled and plated Simmons, putting the Ridgemen ahead. Simmons then took home on an error by the short stop, leaving the Ridgemen in the lead 11-9.
“It was a huge inning and our guys just didn’t give up,” Hargrove said of his team’s seventh inning, “I let the guys hit more instead of calling bunts or steals. We capitalized on a mistake, which I really like about our team. When somebody makes a mistake, we take advantage of it even when we’re down 9-5.”
The Ridgemen defense prevented any more scoring opportunities from Niagara in the last two innings. Pitcher Clint Brown (Mary Hardin-Baylor) struck out the last two batters of the eighth. There was a 6-4-3 double play in the ninth, with the last Niagara batter being tagged out at first. The Ridgemen defeated the Power 11-9 after a hard fought battle.
“Our guys were serving at 8:45 this morning between doing Vacation Bible School and clinics. These guys are tired,” Hargrove said, “When you start to serve and think of other people, life is a little bit more filled with joy.”
The Power and the Ridgemen will meet again in Niagara on Tuesday for a double header.
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