By Kathryne Davis
SHERRILL, N.Y. — The Syracuse Jr. Chiefs delivered a cold front to the Sherrill Silversmiths’ recent hot streak.
Carlos Tapia (Siena College) went 3-4 with two runs batted in and scored two runs as the Jr. Chiefs beat Sherrill 16-4 at Noyes Park on Monday in New York Collegiate Baseball League action.
Syracuse started off the game with bang as Vinnie Mallaro (University of Buffalo) hit a two-run home run to put the away team up early. The lead would not last for long. Kellen Brown (Florida Atlantic U) singled for the home team and moved to third on a Reid Neal (Florida Atlantic U) double. The next hitter, Kevin Brice (Pomona-Pitzer College)delivered an RBI sacrifice fly.
Austin Bouse (LeMoyne) singled and brought home Neal to tie the game.
In the bottom of the next inning, the Silversmiths kept scoring. Dalton Rook (Ft. Scott CC) singled and was brought home on a Hopkins single. He later scored when Brown got out at first. The home team was up by two, but it was all Jr. Chiefs after the second.
Ryan Roman (Concordia College) walked and Nate Stemle (Kentucky Wesleyan College) doubled to reach base for Syracuse. Mark Martin (Bryant U) reached first on an error by the pitcher, which led to Roman and Stemle scoring. Brian Burns (Ithaca College) got out at first, but Mallaro was able to score. Tapia got his first of three hits for the night. Martin scored the unearned run.
The Jr. Chiefs scored four more runs in the top of the fifth. Martin scored on a Michael Lanza (Bryant U) single. Lanza came around to score, along with Tapia on a Matt McCann (Fairleigh Dickinson U) single. McCann scored on a Stemle single. This put the game almost out of reach for the Silversmiths.
In the eighth, Lanza walked with the bases loaded to add on another run. Brian Dudek (University of Buffalo) was the runner. Tapia was the next batter and singled to bring in Thomas Cotter (Ave Maria U). Luke Emling (Villanova) doubled, bringing home two more runs. McCann hit a sacrifice fly and Tapia scored.
Syracuse added one more run in the top of the ninth. Tapia hit a single and Dudek scored.
Sherrill tried to make some noise in the bottom half, but were unable to score another run.
On the streak ending, Sherrill’s Ellington Hopkins (Monroe CC) said, “It happens. It’s baseball.”
Nate Westfahl (Ft. Scott CC) took the loss for the home team after pitching three innings and giving up six runs, with two of them being earned. Patrick Merryweather (Onondaga CC) received the win. He pitched seven innings and gave up four runs (three earned).
“We’ve been waiting a long time for a game like this,” said Jr. Chiefs Head Coach Chris Haynes. “They did a great job.”
After a game like this, Silversmiths Head Coach Greg Dombrowski said the best thing to do is to “forget about it.” The players were tired after playing numerous games in a row.
The Silversmiths (12-5) have another game tomorrow. That game is against the Geneva Red Wings (7-7) at McDonough Park, with the first pitch being thrown at 7 p.m. The Jr. Chiefs (5-11) will go home to NBT Bank to face the Cortland Crush (5-7), starting at 4 p.m.
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