By Nate Discavage
ONEONTA, N.Y. — Kody Ruedisili (Wofford College) was under a lot of pressure as he stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the eighth. His team was barely clinging to a 6-4 lead, the bases were loaded, there were two outs, and his parents were present to see him play. Ruedisili proceeded to hit a bases-clearing triple breaking the game open and ending his recent slump.
Ruedisili and Ben Mauseth (Grand Canyon) paced the offense as the Oneonta Outlaws ran away from the Syracuse Salt Cats, 10-4 in New York Collegiate Baseball League action at Damaschke Field, Friday night.
“I was just trying to keep it simple… and keep the same approach,” Ruedisili said when asked what was going through his head as he prepared to hit. Upon arriving at third base, he said he felt a wave of relief rush over him.
Oneonta star, Mauseth also had a spectacular night. Despite being charged with three defensive errors, Mauseth was an essential part of the Outlaws’ two double plays and unfurled his cannon of an arm to gun down five Salt Cat batters. He also excelled at the plate going 3-4 with two RBI, two runs, and two stolen bases.
Mauseth used his blazing speed to turn a routine single into a double on a ground ball hit into right field.
“I took a chance, went for it,” Mauseth said. “And it paid off.”
Mauseth’s speed has been a huge factor in the Outlaw’s early season success; although the team has played a significantly less amount of games than the rest of the NYCBL, he leads the league in stolen bases (17) and has four more than second place.
The Salt Cats struggled against the Outlaws’ pitching staff. Oneonta starter Alec Romanowski (Stevenson University) limited Syracuse to two earned runs and four hits. Reliever, Tresco Shannon (University of South Carolina-Upstate) would strike out all four batters he faced to end the game.
Syracuse starter, Matt Hardy (Nova Southeastern University) pitched much better than the numbers indicate. Of the six runs he allowed, only three were earned runs. Both teams combined to commit nine defensive errors resulting in five unearned runs.
Ramon Osuna Sanchez (College of Charleston) also turned in a big performance for Oneonta. He drove in three runs for the Outlaws including a two-run double in the bottom of the third to extend Oneonta’s lead to 4-0.
Even when facing a 6-0 deficit, the Salt Cats were not ready to concede the game. The fifth and sixth inning saw Syracuse push across four runs. Ben Sawyer (Alvernia Univeristy) ripped an RBI double to put Syracuse on the board before an RBI single, groundout, and error added more runs for the Salt Cats. They closed the gap to 6-4 and instilled a sense of fear in Outlaws fans’ hearts before Ruedisili’s triple.
Oneonta (7-5) will host the Hornell Dodgers (15-3) tomorrow in game two of their five-game home stand. The contest will be a rematch of last year’s NYCBL finals.
Syracuse (9-10) returns home to face the Geneva Red Wings (8-7).
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