Oneonta’s Rally Falls Short in Loss to Hornell

By Nate Discavage

ONEONTA, N.Y. — Zachary Krivda (Penn State Greater Allegheny) out dueled Jeremy Roberts (Stonehill College) as the Hornell Dodgers swept a weekend set with the Oneonta Outlaws winning 4-3 in New York Collegiate Baseball League action at Damaschke Field, Sunday.

Krivda pitched seven strong innings yielding two earned runs and five hits while striking out seven. He improved his record to 3-0 on the season.

Roberts lasted six innings. He allowed three earned runs on six hits. Roberts fell to 1-2 on the season despite his strong performance on the mound.

Closer, Jeff Beall (Urbana University) entered the game in the ninth to shut down an Outlaws team that was looking to steal a win. Aside from a foul ball blasted by Tyler Martis (Sienna College), which landed just a couple feet outside of the left field foul pole, Beall earned the save without any issues.

Jaren Drummond (Grand Canyon University) and Ethan Evanko (Grand Canyon University) came out of the bullpen to shut down Hornell for the rest of the game.

Tyler Slepski (Mercyhurst College North East) needed just seven pitches (five for strikes) to hold the Outlaws in check during the eighth inning to keep it a one-run ballgame.

Hornell (17-3) scored the first run of the night on a Connor Lewis (Monroe Community College) sacrifice fly following Spencer Scorza (Monroe Community College) triple in the second inning. They added three more runs in the bottom of the fourth with Jake Kenney’s (SUNY Brockport) two-run single and Jimmy Latona’s (Monroe Community College) RBI groundout.

Down 4-0 entering the fifth inning, the Outlaws were determined to stay in the game. Martis hit an RBI groundout to set the wheels in motion in for Oneonta (7-7). Kody Ruedisili (Wofford College) followed with an RBI single, and Matt Bolger (University of Southern Alabama) drove in a run on a groundout to bring the Outlaws within one in the seventh inning.

Oneonta blew a huge opportunity early in the top of the second after loading the bases with no outs. Krivda would then strike out the next three batters he faced to end the threat. This turned out to cost the Outlaws in the long run.

After winning 17 of their first 20 games to start the season, Hornell has painted a huge target on their back.

“When you’re winning, there’s always a target,” Dodger coach Tom Kenney said, “[when] teams are successful, everybody gets up for those.”

Kenney’s thoughts were echoed by his players.

“When you’re in first place, people are going to try and catch you,” Hornell’s Thad Johnson (St. Bonaventure University) said. “Obviously we are all competitors and want to win.”

Four of Oneonta’s seven losses have been one run ballgames.

Krivda threw 113 pitches, 69 for strikes.

 

“A hit, a play, or a pitch can be the difference between winning and losing,” Outlaws’ coach, Joe Hughes said following the game. “[We] just have to battle through those games, grind through it, and hopefully we’ll catch a break when we need it.”

Sunday’s game had an interesting twist. While the game was hosted at Oneonta’s Damaschke Field, the Dodgers were the home team. Originally scheduled to be in Hornell, the Dodgers asked to move the game to Oneonta. The Hornell nine took advantage of the opportunity to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame in nearby Cooperstown.

Oneonta continues their five-game home stand with game four tomorrow against the Cortland Crush (6-9). Hornell travels to Olean to face the Oilers (4-12).