by Dan Lonky (@danlonky)
ONEONTA, NY – Matt Milburn (Wofford) was dominant once again and his team’s offense exploded for 10 runs on 13 hits as the Oneonta Outlaws (20-12) beat the Geneva Twins (15-17) 10-1 Tuesday night in New York Collegiate Baseball League action.
After throwing his second 2-hit shutout of the season less than a week ago, Milburn’s stuff was working once again Tuesday night, as he tossed eight fantastic innings, allowing just one run on four hits while striking out three. On the season, the right-hander now sports a 4-1 record to go with a 1.95 ERA .
“I’ve just tried to work ahead early in the count. My defense has been great behind me and the hitting has been timely. We’re just playing really well right now as a team,” the Texas-native said of he and his team’s success of late.
The Oneonta offense jumped all over Twins starter Jimmy Spagna (John Carroll), tagging him for six runs on seven hits over four innings of work. Spagna had trouble with his control all night long, as he walked five and threw several wild pitches.
Four different Outlaws put together multi-hit games as the offense was clicking on all cylinders. Evan Harasta (UAlbany) started the barrage of scoring in the second inning with an RBI single to center field.
Oneonta would later put together a big fourth inning against Spagna, eventually leading to his early exit. After a Howard Joe (Mercer) leadoff triple and a walk to Spencer Duffie (Mercer), local product Sean Getman (Rhode Island) bounced a base hit through the hole and into right field, scoring Joe. Jake Levine (Brown) would later follow by crushing his league-leading seventh triple of the season, plating two more Oneonta baserunners. After Levine came in to score on a wild pitch, Josh Treff (Northeastern) would later hit a sacrifice fly to center, increasing the Oneonta lead to 6-0.
Geneva got their lone run off Milburn in the fifth, ruining his shot at a third shutout of the season. After tripling to dead center, David Saluga (Youngstown) came home on an RBI single by catcher John Lynn (Wagner).
The Outlaws got back to scoring in the sixth inning, as red-hot Mitch Hollander (Cortland) socked a ground-rule double to left, scoring Levine. Brian Kraft (Grand Canyon) then joined in on the action with an RBI single to right, bringing in Hollander.
After Oneonta added a pair of runs on groundouts in the eighth, head coach Joe Hughes called on Zach Moreau (Grambling St) to seal the deal the ninth. Moreau did just that, giving the Outlaws their league-best 20th win as they move into a tie for first place with the Olean Oilers (19-11).
“I like the way we’re playing, I like the way we’re pitching, we’ve had timely hitting and good defense which is a good combination. It’s been a part of the season right now where we’ve played some really good baseball,” Coach Hughes said of his team’s recent surge.
With the Oilers losing to the Hornell Dodgers on Tuesday night, the Outlaws are now only percent-points behind Olean as far as first place in the NYCBL standings is concerned. The Twins, meanwhile, are still in the hunt for the final playoff spot, as they now sit in seventh place overall.
Tomorrow, July 16th, the Outlaws head to Sherrill to play a doubleheader against the fading Silversmiths (13-19). The Twins will be at home hosting the Syracuse Salt Cats (17-15).
Leave a Reply