By Cameron Boon
WEBSTER, N.Y. — For eight innings on Thursday night, Jackson Sigman (Glendale CC) and Dustin King (Hannibal-LaGrange) combined to stymie the Niagara Power offense, holding them to one run and five hits. But, unfortunately for the Ridgemen, a regulation baseball game is nine innings, and it was the ninth one that hurt, as the Power put up five runs on four hits in the final frame on their way to a stunning, come-from-behind 6-5 victory over Rochester in a New York Collegiate Baseball League Western Division matchup at Basket Road Field.
Zach Verner (John Carroll) came on in the bottom half of the ninth to save the game, his third of the season. It was the fourth straight game that the Power staged a late-inning comeback.
“We have a lot of great chemistry and faith in each other to get the clutch hit,” Niagara catcher Michael Crowley (Huntington) said after the game.
The Power got on the board first in the third, Crowley started the inning with a double to left-center. He then came around and scored on Ivan Acuna’s (Catawba Valley CC) RBI single up the middle.
The Ridgemen weren’t slow to answer though, as they tied it in their half of the third. Andy Santana (Geneva College) and Shane Soria (Glendale CC) started the inning with a walk and single respectively, immediately putting pressure on Niagara’s starter Perry Turner (Jones County Junior College).
Turner was able to work and ended up trading a run for an out, as Nick Wolyniec(Bergen CC) grounded out to short, driving in Santana and tying the game at one.
The Ridgemen then had a huge bottom of the fourth, propelling them to a 5-1 lead. Garrett Ruckel (Jacksonville) started off the inning with a single. He was followed by Alex Storaci (Blue Mountain CC) drawing a walk. After Chase Burrow (Mary Hardin-Baylor) bunted the runners over, Rochester newcomer Larry Vidaurre (Nyack) was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Ruckel scored on a passed ball, making it 2-1 Rochester, and then Santana provided the big blow of the inning. He launched a 2-1 pitch deep into the left-center field gap. The left fielder John Mulhern (Regis) could not reach it, and Santana circled the bases for an inside-the-park home run, scoring Storaci and Vidaurre in the process.
“As soon as I hit it, I just hustled,” Santana said.
“As he approached third, I was like ‘Sweet he’s got it,’” Rochester coach Brady James said from his view in the third base coach’s box.
King was able to hold onto the lead, pitching four additional scoreless innings after this, finishing with a pair of strikeouts and one walk in his six innings of work.
“His mind was ready to pitch tonight,” James said.
But it was the Ridgemen offense that stalled for the rest of the game, only mustering up four hits and all of them were singles.
“We weren’t able to make the right plays at the right times,” Santana said.
It was also the pitching of Niagara’s bullpen that kept Rochester off the board, as three pitchers, John Moore (Colorado Christian), Brian Baxter (Bryan), and Verner, combined to shut out the Ridgemen over the final 3.1 innings and holding them to a single hit. “Once our bullpen gets the ball, we know we have a chance to win,” Rebandt said.
In the ninth, it was one small thing that changed according to Rebandt.
“Our hitters were a lot more patient at the plate,” he said.
Sean Visconti started the inning with a single, and he would score in the next at-bat, as Caleb Lang (Philadelphia Biblical) drilled an RBI triple. Tyler VonDracek (Whitworth) then reached first base when Ruckel dropped the third strike and Holt Davis could not hold onto the ball at first base.
AJ Hammond (Millersville) then drilled a triple, cutting the lead to 5-4, scoring VonDracek and Lang.
Hammond then scored the tying run when Mulhern lined a single to right field. The ball was misplayed by right fielder Trent Sullivan (MidAmerica Nazarene), allowed Mulhern to advance to third.
Mulhern gave Niagara the lead they rallied once again for, when he scored on Crowley’s sacrifice fly, putting the Power up for good 6-5.
The three previous victims of the Niagara late-game rally were the Wellsville, and Olean twice. In the first encounter with Olean, the Power put up five in the seventh and two in the ninth to rally from a seven-run deficit and force extras, only to win 14-11 in 11 innings.
Niagara has now won five in a row, and is 6-2 on the season. The Power host Genesee (4-7) Friday night. A 7 pm first pitch is scheduled.
The Ridgemen have lost four of their last five games and are now back to .500 (5-5) after starting the season 4-1. Rochester gets two days off before traveling to Olean to play the Oilers on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 3 pm at Bradner Stadium.
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