By Brianna Case
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — “People are going to play better, and it’s good baseball on a tremendous field,” said Coach Mike Martinez of the Syracuse Salt Cats.
The Syracuse Salt Cats who previously played at Le Moyne, are now using Onondaga Community College’s field as their new home stadium. The college recently had their grand opening for the field, April 24.
According to sunyocc.edu, the field’s turf is made of a synthetic surface that meets all NCAA and NJCAA requirements. It even won the 2013 Masonry Silver Award from the American Concrete Institute (ACI) in the Design and Installation Award category.
So what does this mean for the Salt Cats? Well, a 5-0 win for their first game on the field against the Syracuse JR Chiefs!
The Syracuse Salt Cats from the beginning were off to a great start scoring two in the bottom of the first inning that lead the JR Chiefs 2-0.
As the Syracuse JR Cheifs go up to bat they end up losing two huge hits due to a ground rule double, never being able to score. The Salt Cats defense just wasn’t giving up out on the field.
“This field plays true and if you make an error on this field you earned it,” Martinez said.
The sixth inning rolls around and the Salt Cats have a three run frame giving them a 5-0 lead over the JR Chiefs.
Although the Salt Cats were able to score, their batting is going to be a work in progress. The JR Chiefs caught some pop ups during a few innings.
Martinez doesn’t want the team to be based upon perfect batting, but put together based upon offence and good pitchers. This game definitely proved his goal.
Yaniel Delgado, a student from Benedict College became a pitching king. Five innings pitched, five strikeouts, and he only gave up two hits in the game. He is player that pleases.
This nine inning game ended quickly with the Salt Cats becoming 1-0 after getting the 5-0 victory against the JR Chiefs. Between scoring, great pitchers, and a new field to play on, the Salt Cats ended their first game tremendously.
“First win is always the best win. We plan on winning a lot of them, and we don’t want to lose. We wanna win every single game,” Martinez said.
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