By Dan Lonky @danlonky
OLEAN, NY – The Olean Oilers were able to keep their season alive on Friday evening with a 6-4 semi-finals win over the Oneonta Outlaws in New York Collegiate Baseball League playoff action at Olean High School.
After being outscored by seven runs in Thursday night’s affair, the Oilers bounced back with the bats and roughed up Outlaws starter Malcolm Purdy (Grand Canyon) for six runs on seven hits over five innings. Olean looked to be much more comfortable playing at their home field, after their rough loss in Oneonta.
“Our guys were a little more relaxed. They had a good approach at the plate and weren’t trying to do too much,” Olean Manager Bobby Bell Jr. said after the game. “Guys were staying inside the ball and looking for the base hits rather than the big swings and it really worked out in the long run.”
Olean starter Joey Gamache (Tacoma CC) was able to out-pitch Purdy, as the southpaw tossed 7.1 innings, allowing four runs on nine hits while striking out eight. The Outlaws failed to capitalize on several scoring opportunities, as they ended up stranding twelve runners on base throughout the game.
Olean got the scoring started in the first inning, staging a double steal as Lee Grosscup (Mt Union) was able to come home with the first run of the game on catcher Evan Harasta’s (UAlbany) throw down to second.
The Outlaws later took the lead off Gamache in the third inning. After loading the bases, Jake Levine (Brown) came through with a two-run single up the middle, plating Spencer Duffie (Mercer) and Ryan Tomita (Grand Canyon).
Olean was able to put together their biggest inning off Purdy in the fourth. After three singles to start the inning, Joe Chittester (Brewton Parker) hit a sacrifice fly to center field, cutting the deficit to one. Casey Gibson (Nova Southeastern) then hit a grounder to Howard Joe (Mercer) at third, who proceeded to make a poor throw that first baseman Heath Holder (Georgia) couldn’t handle. The error resulted in two more Olean runs, giving the home team a 4-2 lead. They later added their fifth run on another double steal.
In the sixth inning the Oilers gave Gamache some more breathing room, adding another run on a Tim Ravel (Bloomsburg) sacrifice fly.
Gamache was able to work out of a big jam in the seventh, as the Outlaws loaded the bases with only one out and the heart of the order due up. The left-handed however was not phased, as he got Levine to ground into a fielder’s choice at home and got Brian Kraft (Grand Canyon) to fly out to right.
Oneonta had another chance to do some damage in the eighth, as they knocked Gamache out of the game with back-to-back singles to start the inning. Kyle McLain (Washington & Jefferson) then came out of the bullpen and immediately walked Joe, the first batter he faced. The Outlaws were then able to get one run in as first baseman Max Beerman (Villanova) booted a Duffie ground ball, allowing Harasta to score. That would be it for Oneonta though, as McLain was able to regroup and get a pair of strike outs to end the threat.
Going into the ninth, the Outlaws had a two-run deficit to try and overcome against McLain and the Oilers. The right-hander set down the first two batters he faced with ease, but then ran into some trouble after that. Mitch Hollander (Cortland) was able to reach on an error by the third baseman Gibson. Harasta then followed by drawing a walk and Holder came through with a base-hit to right field. With the bases loaded and one out to go, Bell Jr. decided to call on reliever Derek Vail (Santa Fe CC) to try and close things out. Vail did his job, getting Joe to groundout to first base as he got the save and locked up the victory for Olean.
The same two teams meet Saturday at Damaschke Field with a date to the NYCBL championship hanging in the balance. A 7 p.m. first pitch is scheduled.
The winner of Saturday’s game will move on to meet the Hornell Dodgers who swept the Wellsville Nitros to advance to the league championship series.
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