By Paul Gotham
GENEVA, N.Y. – Geneva’s Twins scored on a field goal and safety in the first, managed a touchdown in the third and put up another four for their total.
That’s about the size of it.
The Twins sent 26 to the plate in the first three innings and went on to a 16-8 triumph over the Genesee Rapids in New York Collegiate Baseball League action at McDonough Park, Sunday afternoon.
Geneva put runs on the board in each of the first five innings including a seven-run third to put the game out of reach.
Mike Annone (Wilmington) highlighted the outburst when he drilled his third home run of the season – a grand slam just to the right of the Big Mac scoreboard in right field.
“He just left it up a little bit,” Annone said. “And I got all of it.”
Annone connected on a Cameron Bommer (Anderson) fastball plating Bob Barnett (Widener), Zach Goldstein (So. New Hampshire) and Mitchell Lake (Mt. Union) to give the Twins an insurmountable 12-0 bulge.
“He was missing down and away,” Annone explained. “I knew if he came into me it was going to be up in the zone. I was just going to golf it out. That was my plan. I was visualizing it on deck actually, that same thing.”
Barnett singled and scored in each of the first three innings. The Twins leadoff man collected his fourth multi-hit game of the season and first three-hit effort.
“It’s about time that happened,” Barnett commented. “I’ve been struggling a little bit hitting weak ground balls. Anytime something like happens it really boosts your confidence. It helps you out in the long run.”
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The Glenolden, PA native singled and scored Geneva’s first run in a five-run first.
Robert Delgado (Hagerstown CC) connected on the first of four consecutive Geneva RBI singles in the first. After sitting out the past two weeks with a shoulder injury, the Geneva designated hitter announced his arrival with authority connecting on home runs in the third and fifth innings.
“Today was a big day for me, Delgado stated. “My confidence wasn’t that high, but I just had to keep my focus. I told myself I was going to hit the ball hard.”
He barely missed a third round tripper in the first with a bases-loaded towering drive to left field which forced runners to stay at the bags and wait to see if Dalton Combs (Huntington) could make the play. When the ball caromed off the wall, runners only had time to advance one base.
“I’ve been really working on covering the plate a little bit,” Delgado explained. “I know I’m not going to get beat in…I thought he was going to go off-speed away. He came fastball in. I just got my hands out there. That thing just stayed up there for a while.”
David Anderson (Muhlenberg) scattered five hits and two walks over five scoreless innings for his fifth win of the season. The right-hander struck out two and lowered his ERA to 1.00. His biggest challenge of the day might have been staying loose while his teammates batted around the lineup.
“The toughest part about today was that we put up five and then seven,” Anderson noted. “I was just trying not to stiffen up. I was going down to the bullpen and throwing some pitches. I threw a lot of pitches down there.”
Anderson has picked up the win in five straight appearances including the last two as the starter. Opposing batters are hitting .271 against him.
“He goes out and competes every day,” Geneva coach Nick Callahan said. “He‘s one of the toughest kids we have on the pitching staff. That’s why we love to have him out there.”
Geneva’s offense banged out 20 hits while leaving nine on base. After dropping a pair of games the Twins have now won two and sit in second place in the NYCBL’s Western Division, three and a half games behind Hornell (19-6).
“We hit the ball hard every day,” Calllahan continued. “The more they fall, the better it is. The wind was blowing out today. That certainly helped.”
Genesee rallied with five runs in the seventh and three in the eighth to cut the lead in half.
“It was a combination of leaving balls up and not making plays that we should have made,” Genesee coach Tyler Rost said of the early deficit. It was nice to see us do a little at the end.
Jason Euler (Mesa CC) connected on a three-run home run as the Rapids made it a 16-5 game after seven.
Genesee (11-14) trail Hornell by eight but are within three of fourth place and the final playoff spot. Genesee has gone 7-3 in their last ten.
“We feel like we’re just right there,” Rost said. “Our last ten games we’ve played pretty well and had a couple of chances to get back to .500. We just need to get hot at the right times and catch a couple of breaks.”
Enrico Sukhdeo (Houghton) drove in two for Genesee. Chaz Tanner (Virginia Wise) and Jack LaMarca (Ohio Northern U) both had two hits apiece.
Kyle Sanford (Plymouth St.) and Nathan Stanley (Clearwater Christian) both tossed a scoreless inning in relief.
Sean Feeney (Wilmington) went 4-6 with two doubles and three RBI for the Twins. Jason Ibrahim (Arkansas Pine Bluff) and Brett Connors (Siena) both had two hits.
Lake had three hits including a double, two RBI and two runs scored.
Jonah van Bemmelen (Arcadia) and Kevin Berge (St. John Fisher) hurled a scoreless inning apiece.
The same two teams meet at the Kerr-Pegula Athletic Complex, Monday. A 7 p.m. first pitch is scheduled.
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