SHERRILL, NY — It was not pretty, but the Sherrill Silversmiths withstood two late-game rallies from the Oneonta Outlaws to sweep a doubleheader in New York Collegiate Baseball League action at Noyes Park.
Game one on the day was a continuation of a previously postponed game that was rained out earlier in the season. The game restarted with a 0-0 score and Sherrill up to bat in the bottom of the third.
The Silversmiths wasted no time getting ahead as Rich Guglielmi (Saginaw Valley State) hit a two-out, three-run homer to right field. Sherrill added another run in the fourth inning as Dylan Eschenburg, also of Saginaw Valley State, brought in a run with a two-out single.
The Outlaws got on the board in the sixth frame as Brian Kraft (Grand Canyon) reached base on an error. He received second base on the overthrow and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Brandon Stephens (Georgia) plated Kraft with an RBI single up the middle.
Sherrill answered right back in their half of the inning as Eschenburg singled home his second runner of the game. This time it was Doug Putkowski (Suffolk County), who started another two-out rally with a double down the third-base line. All five Silversmiths’ runs were courtesy of two-out knocks.
The Outlaws made things interesting in the seventh, and also the final, inning. Evan Harasta (Albany) led off with a home run off Sherrill pitcher Mike Bunal (Binghamton). Ryan Tomita (Grand Canyon) singled and later scored on an RBI single from Kraft. Bunal struck out the last batter, who was the potential tying run at the plate to end game one.
Bunal allowed three runs on five hits over four innings. He struck out eight batters as well for the win.
“In terms of starts, he’s only had one other one and he threw the ball really well. He focused on throwing strikes today,” Sherrill manager Dennis Duffy said.
Tsuyoshi Horibata, Bunal’s teammate at Binghmaton, received the loss after allowing five runs (two earned) on six hits over four innings.
Oneonta took an early lead in the first off of Sherrill starter Kevin Carpentier (Finger Lakes). Jake Levine (Brown) started off the rally with a free pass. After an error and sacrifice bunt, Kraft plated Levine with a single.
Bunal, the designated hitter in game two after picking up the victory in the first contest, got that run back immediately by homering to right off of another Binghamton player, Jacob Cryts.
After a strikeout, Skyler Geissinger (Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville) singled and scored on the next batter Ka’ai Tom’s (Fort Scott) double to make the score 2-1. Putkowski then launched a ball over the right field fence for a two-run home run to put Sherrill on top 4-1.
Carpentier settled down nicely as he escaped a no-outs, bases loaded jam in the second without surrendering a run. He only allowed one more hit over the next four innings. The Oswego native went six innings while giving up one run on four hits. He struck out five.
Sherrill made it 6-1 in the third frame as Geissinger took an off-speed pitch off the top of the helmet to start the inning. Tom singled and Putkowski drew a walk to load the bases. Josh Griffith (Fort Scott) drilled a ball to deep center to plate Geissinger and Tom. Oneonta lucked out as the ball trickled underneath the fence for a ground rule double as Putkowski and possibly even Griffith could have scored on the play. Cryts regrouped and induced three consecutive outs to stop the bleeding.
Putkowski put the Silversmiths up 7-1 as he led off the fifth inning with a solo shot, also to right field. Putkowski was the star at the plate for the day, going 4-6 with two doubles, two home runs and four runs.
“Everything was going over the fence and I’m liking it,” he said jokingly. “I don’t know how to put it into perspective, really. You swing and you hit, and you can’t think of it too much.”
Oneonta, like in game one, did not go down without a fight. They pushed across five runs in a wild seventh inning. Levine walked to start the rally. After a fly out, the Outlaws strung together three straight hits, one being a two-RBI double from Josh Treff (Northeastern). After a Sherrill error allowed another run in, Howard Joe (Mercer) singled home the fourth run of the inning. Levine, up for the second time in the inning, walked with the bases loaded for their fifth run to cut the deficit to 7-6. Tom Moriarty (Hamilton) induced a ground out to short to end the inning for Sherrill.
Tom DeBernardis (Cazenovia) entered in the top of the eight frame for the Silversmiths and made quick work of the final two innings. He struck out two and only one hitter reached base due to an error.
“He came in with a real tough spot after giving up the five runs. He got ahead of hitters and didn’t walk anybody. When you do that, you’ll be successful,” said Duffy.
Carpentier picked up the win for Sherrill. Cryts received the loss for Oneonta. The two teams square off for a doubleheader tomorrow (Thursday, July 18), starting at 3:00 p.m. at Noyes Park again.
Sherrill improved to 15-19 as they keep their slim playoff hopes alive. They trail the sixth-place Hornell Dodgers by three games. The Outlaws fell to 20-14 on the year, but still maintain the second place position.
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