By Paul Gotham
GENEVA, NY – With their playoff lives melting in the summer heat, the Syracuse Jr. Chiefs rediscovered their mojo.
The Jr. Chiefs took advantage of defensive generosity and tallied 12 runs in two innings en route to a pivotal 15-8 victory over the Geneva Twins in the completion of a suspended New York Collegiate Baseball League game at McDonough Park, Friday afternoon.
Trailing 7-3 in the seventh, the Jr. Chiefs knotted the score with four before sending 13 to the plate in an eight-run eighth to run away with the game.
The win ended a five-game skid which saw the Jr. Chiefs tumble from second place in the NYCBL standings to within a half-game of sixth place.
“It’s been awhile,” said a relieved Jr. Chiefs head coach, Chris Haynes. “We haven’t shaken hands like that after a game in almost a week. It feels good.”
Gary Jones (Delaware) delivered a bases-loaded, pinch-hit two-run double in the four-run seventh.
“I knew there were runners on base so the pitcher was going to try and get ahead in the count,” Jones stated. “I knew he was going to throw a fastball. I foul tipped his first pitch. I just sat back to see if he was going to throw something different. As soon as I saw it was a fastball, I just let it go.”
Jones plated Nick Sinay (University at Buffalo) and Noel Garcia (Northwood) with the two-bagger into left center. After spending a college season recovering from a stress fracture in his back, Jones recently strung together hits in three consecutive contests.
“If you look at his stats in the last two weeks, he’s been coming on,” Haynes said of Jones. “He just needs to get his timing back. He was hurt all year. He’s our go-to guy. He needs to be in the lineup.”
Stanley Susana (St. Thomas Aquinas), who has also struggled with a recent ailment, continued the seventh with an RBI single through the left side of the infield scoring Aaron Pigna (Ave Maria). Susana has been out the lineup since suffering a mild concussion in Sunday’s doubleheader versus the Oneonta Outlaws.
“It’s good to get back in the lineup,” Susana commented. “It’s the end of the summer. Everybody’s got injuries. You got to find a way to fight through it.”
Jones scampered home when Ryan Clark (UNC-Greensboro) reached on an error, and the Jr. Chiefs tied the score at seven.
The seventh-inning rally served as a launching pad for the Syracuse offense which put the game away in the eighth.
Sinay started the eighth with a base hit through the left side. Garcia dropped a sacrifice bunt and reached when no one covered the bag, and the romp was on.
Pigna moved the runners with a sacrifice of his own. Jones was intentionally walked. Alex Caruso (St. John’s) singled home a run. Garcia came home when Susana reached on an error. Clark drove in a run. John Cialone (Villanova) drove in two. Garcia singled in a run. Pigna capped the inning with a sacrifice fly, and the Jr. Chiefs led 15-7.
The Jr. Chiefs who played with a patchwork lineup during the early part of the week, looked ready to make a run in the upcoming playoffs.
“We’ve been waiting all week to get our guys back,” Haynes said. “More than the physical part of the game, it’s the mental side. Everyone feels more comfortable around the diamond. Our normal guys are back in, and the routine plays are being made.”
Mike Bittel (Seton Hill) got the win. The right-hander came out of the bullpen when Clark struggled giving up runs in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth. After the Jr. Chiefs tied the score in the seventh, Geneva put the first two runners aboard in the eighth.
“I was just pounding the strike zone,” Bittel noted. “My defense made some great plays behind me in the inning before. I just wanted them to put the ball in play.”
“Bittel came in and did exactly what we needed him to do,” Haynes explained.
The Twins committed seven errors in the game.
The game was started on June 26th when it was called because of rain. The contest served as the first of two partial games for the Jr. Chiefs who later in the day will play the Geneva Red Wings.
The Twins will also play two games in one day against different opponents. The Twins and Red Wings will resume their in-house rivalry with the Red Wings, Friday night.
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