By Alicia Daddario
SYRACUSE, NY — The Syracuse Salt Cats (19-16) certainly avenged a Thursday night loss to the Rochester Ridgemen (14-21) by putting on a hitting clinic and putting 19 runs across the plate in New York Baseball Collegiate League action Friday evening at Rockwell Field.
This pivotal 19-3 victory put Syracuse in a three-way tie for third place as the playoffs are right around the corner. With Coach Mike Martinez serving a one-game suspension for being thrown out of an earlier game, pitching Coach Shaun Caveny stepped in. Thursday’s loss and pressure of playoffs looming, Caveny says the team ignores these outside factors.
“We approach it the same way we approach it everyday. Nothing changes depending on the situation, who we’re playing, nothing changes. We’re going to play hard for nine innings. Try to scrap across some runs and win a ball game. That doesn’t change regardless of what is going on around us.”
While the offense is the obvious story line of this game, the pitching for the Salt Cats was stellar while it was the Ridgemen’s downfall.
On the mound for Syracuse was All-Star pitcher Ian Drapcho (Walsh), who had a rough last outing. There were early signs of struggle but Drapcho found the zone and finished a strong five scoreless innings, giving up three hits, walking three, and striking out two. As a pitching coach, Caveny was impressed with Drapcho’s bounce back performance against Rochester.
“He pitched very well. I thought we got five solid innings out of Ian. He did a great job on the mound, throwing strikes and getting ahead of guys. Making them hit his pitches, getting themselves out which is a big plus. A huge bounce back from Ian’s last start.”
After a scoreless top half by Drapcho, the Salt Cats struck first against the Ridgemen starter CJ King (Mississippi Valley St.). The league’s leading hitter, Carlos Guzman (Molloy) continued his hot hitting with a lead off double down the right field line.
“My goal is just get on base so the two, three guys can drive me in. I just pretty much look for a first pitch fastball and look to drive it,” says Guzman on his approach as the lead off man.
Following Guzman’s double, Bud Morton (Southern) used his spectacular speed to reach first on a bunt single, moving Guzman to third. Runners on second and third, after Morton successfully stole, for the team leader in RBI’s Cristian Fiorito (Concordia). Fiorito continues to be productive with runners in scoring position as he added to his RBI total (34) with a sac fly to center field, as Guzman tags and scored.
Things quickly escalated when clean up hitter Zach Carlino(Mt. Union) was hit in the ribs by King. Carlino made his way to first and third baseman Mike DeCarr (SUNY Cortland) stepped into the batter’s box. First pitch was up and in, a little close for comfort. The second pitch plunked DeCarr. Two hit batters in a row was enough for the home plate umpire to throw King out of the game as an upset DeCarr headed to first to load the bases. After about a 15 minute warm up by replacement pitcher Chris Kemp (Pitt-Bradford), any momentum that the Salt Cats may have had, faded away. Colton Montgomery (Georgia Coll & St. U) grounded out to second, scoring Morton to put Syracuse up 2-0 after one inning, but that would be all, for now.
The Salt Cats went scoreless in the second, but they were only building up for the third inning where Syracuse batted around and scored 13 runs. Fiorito led off the monster inning with a ground ball to the second baseman, who could not field the ball cleanly, allowing Fiorito to reach safely. Carlino must have had a target on his back as he was nailed with a pitch for the second time. DeCarr did not suffer the same fate as his last at bat as he knocked a three run shot over the left field wall, his second some run of the season, giving the Cats a 5-0 lead.
Montgomery followed DeCarr’s 3 run blast with a single to left. Catcher Nolan Schultz (U of R) joined the hitting party with a single and designated hitter Mike Mascari (Oswego St. ) earned a walk to once again load the bases. Tyler Kirwan (Massachusetts-Boston) hit a fly ball to center field for the first out, and credited with an RBI as Montgomery crossed the plate.
Guzman used his plate discipline to earn himself a walk and reload the bases for Morton. He capitalized on the opportunity with a 2-run single to right field, putting the Salt Cats up 8-0. Fiorito walked followed by a RBI single from Carlino to left, Guzman scored and Fiorito advanced to third, Carlino advanced to second as the left fielder struggled to get the ball in. DeCarr and Montgomery earned back to back walks, which forced Fiorito to score. Bases loaded for the third time this inning for Schultz, who ripped one down the right filed line for a bases clearing triple. One more run scored on a Tyler Kirwan single which allowed Schultz to score, giving the Salt Cats a 15-0 lead over the Ridgemen.
Syracuse tacked on their sixteenth run in the bottom of the fifth inning. Mascari doubled which brought around Montgomery for his third run scored of the game.
The Ridgemen were not completely shutout as they combined for three runs in the seventh and eighth inning. Coming on in relief for the Salt Cats was captain Lou Liberatore (Molloy). Center fielder and pitcher Matthew Simmons (Hendrix) reached on a fielder’s choice to start things off. Ben Circeo (Bluefield) followed his teammate with a single to right field, which set up lead off hitter Josh Turner (Patrick Henry CC). Turner was able to hit a two-RBI single to put Rochester on the board. The Ridgemen scored one more run as a home run by Nick Wolyniec (Siena) off Salt Cat pitcher Ben McGraw Niagara County CC). This would be it for the Ridgemen offense.
However, the Salt Cats were not quite done. Moving into the bottom of the eighth. Sawyer, who replaced Guzman in the line up, and Morton earned back to back walks, followed by a single by Tucker Starkey (Ave Maria). Carlino continued his hot hitting with a RBI single to right field. DeCarr was awarded his fourth RBI with a single of his own. The nineteenth and final run for the Salt Cats was by Montgomery who got his third RBI won a sac fly to center field. Syracuse won by a final score of 19-3.
A whopping 19 runs for the Salt Cats, brilliant pitching strategy by the coaching staff, and the collapse of the opponent gave Syracuse a much needed win. Now with a 19-16 record, the Salt Cats sit in third place tied with the Hornell Dodgers and the Wellsville Nitros, every game counts. The Salt Cats look to continue their offensive prowess as they once again host the Rochester Ridgemen at LeMoyne College Saturday evening. The game is scheduled for 5 pm.
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