By Cameron Boon
HOUGHTON, N.Y. — With runners on second and third and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Jackson Sigman’s (Glendale CC) 1-0 delivery to Chaz Tanner (Virginia Wise) reached the backstop, allowing Will Kendrick (Davis & Elkins) to score the winning run from third, and giving the Genesee Rapids a 3-2 victory over the Rochester Ridgemen in a New York Collegiate Baseball League Western Division matchup at the Kerr-Pegula Athletic Complex on Tuesday night.
Genesee was able to battle back from a pair of one-run deficits, tying it in the seventh and eighth innings before taking their first lead of the game on the final pitch of the game, the wild one that scored Kendrick.
The Rapids are now 1.5 games out of that final playoff spot in the Western Division, as they currently stand at 9-11.
The Ridgemen fell to 10-8 on the season, but maintained their hold on third place because the game featuring the Olean Oilers and the Niagara Power was delayed in the bottom of the fourth inning with the Oilers up 2-0. The Power came into the day a game back of Rochester.
Connor Hamilton (Cedarville) was given his first no-decision after another great start, allowing Genesee to accumulate only two runs on six hits in eight innings of work, but lack of run support doomed Hamilton again.
The highest amount of earned runs Hamilton has allowed this season is three in four starts, yet he has only a 1-2 record.
Genesee pitcher Chad Muise (Houghton College) finished with a no-decision, as he went 6.2 innings, allowing one run on four hits.
The Ridgemen got going early, as Shane Soria (Glendale CC) led off the game with a single to second. After stealing second base, he eventually scored on Matt Emge’s (Pittsburgh) single to left field, giving Rochester the early 1-0 lead.
Hamilton started out the game red-hot, retiring the first ten batters he faced. He had a no-hitter last into the fifth inning, before Riley Roberts (Fullerton) broke it up with a single to center. A double play would quickly end that inning.
The Ridgemen threatened to score in the fourth, as they put the first two batters in the inning, Emge and Nick Wolyniec (Bergen CC), on with a hit by pitch and single, respectively.
Muise retired the next three batters he would face, and Emge and Wolyniec were left on.
The first comeback came in the seventh, and Jason Euler (Mesa CC) provided it with one swing. He hit his second home run of the season, tying the game at one apiece.
Genesee had the bases loaded with one out, but Hamilton worked out of the jam, inducing Christopher Welch (Mississippi College) into a 6-4-3 double play to keep the game tied.
Wolyniec provided his first RBI of the game to give the Ridgemen the lead, a ground-rule double, scoring Andy Santana (Geneva College) and moving Emge over to third. Rochester looked as if they were ready to add insurance runs, but Emge was gunned out at home on a Holt Davis (UAB) fielder’s choice.
Trent Sullivan (MidAmerica Nazarene) then grounded out to the pitcher to end the inning.
In the bottom half, Genesee was able to tie the game up again. Tanner scored the run off of Euler’s RBI single. Euler’s only two hits on the night were very crucial to Genesee’s success, as he tied the game in both opportunities he got.
The Rapids then closed the deal in the ninth, but not before the Ridgemen would put together a resistance.
Preston Williams (Case Western Reserve) came on in the ninth for Rochester, but after Dalton Combs (Huntington) doubled and Roberts hit an infield single, he was called upon to intentionally walk Welch. Rochester manager Brady James then promptly took him off the mound in favor of Sigman.
The Ridgemen also brought five players to the infield to prevent a ball getting through, and the resistance worked as they got Rene Rivera (Hesston) to ground into a double play that started with second baseman Larry Vidaurre (Nyack), who threw home to Emge to prevent the run from scoring, who then threw it down to Davis at first to get the double play.
It looked as if Rochester had a chance to get away from the inning unharmed and head to extras, but Sigman’s pitch danced past the catcher Emge, allowing the winning run to cross the plate.
Wolyniec had another stellar night, going 2-for-4 and one RBI for Rochester, the only Ridgemen to have a multi-hit night.
Riley Roberts was 3-for-4 for Genesee.
The fault in the Ridgemen lineup came in the bottom four hitters, who combined for an 0-for-14 showing.
The Ridgemen and Rapids will meet in the rubber match of their three-game set tomorrow night, with the first pitch out in Houghton, NY set for 7:00 p.m.
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