By Kathryne Davis
SHERRILL, N.Y. — Mitch Cavanagh (St. Johns U) went 3-4 with two runs batted in and one run scored as the Sherrill Silversmiths beat the Cortland Crush 8-5 in New York Collegiate Baseball League action at Noyes Park on Monday evening.
The Silversmiths beat Cortland after being swept in a double header by the same team on Saturday.
In the top of the first, the Crush got in the board with two unearned runs. Zachary Racusin (Marist College) scored off a Greg Jasek (Clarkson U) double. The next batter, Adam Smith (SUNY Cortland) singled. Jasek scored.
Sherrill would get the runs right back in the bottom half of the inning. Reid Neal (Florida Atlantic U) doubled and scored after J. C. Pena (Central Florida) hit a ground rule double. Kevin Brice (Pomona-Pitzer Col) was hit by a pitch to reach first and scored two batters later after Cavanagh was also hit by a pitch. Five Silversmith batters were hit in the game, with Brice being hit twice.
The home team picked up two more runs in the next inning. Ellington Hopkins (Monroe CC) led off with a single and came around to score on a single by Bryan Baquer (Washington Col). Baquer later scored on a Neal fly out to center field. Hopkins and Baquer would both go on to score again in the bottom of the third to bring their team’s total to six runs. Hopkins scored on an error by the shortstop, which also led to Baquer reaching base. He scored on a single by Brice.
Jasek got another hit as he crushed a ball into the trees for a solo home run. He led his team with three hits in five at-bats, picking up two RBIs and scoring two runs.
Cavanagh scored an unearned run in the sixth and Neal scored on a Cavanagh single in the seventh to add to the Silversmiths’ lead.
Sherrill looked to be headed for a win until Zephan Kash (Mansfield U) hit a shot for the second home run of the game. Christopher Kwitzer (University of Buffalo) also scored. This cut the game to a 3-run Silversmiths lead.
Cory Poplawski (Salve Regina) pitched a scoreless ninth for Sherrill and got the save. The first two batters of the inning reached base, but Poplawski was able to strike out the next two and get Kwitzer for the third out of the inning, before the runners had the chance to score.
Daniel Jarrell (Washington College) pitched 5.2 innings, only allowing one earned run. Jarrell said that he had good control of his fastball, but wished he had better control of his changeup and curveball. In the end, the team got the win, which was the more important part of the day. Sherrill also had strong pitching performances from Marc Iseneker (St. John Fisher) and Zach Vennaro (Monroe CC). Iseneker went 1.1 innings and didn’t give up a hit. Vennaro came in after a home run was given up to Kash and got the next two outs to end the innings, without giving up a run or a hit.
“We had the ability to come back offensively,” said Cortland head coach Bill McConnell.
He continued to say that if the team had eliminated the errors and hit batsmen, the outcome could have gone a different way. Both teams committed five errors in the game.
“The game was closer than it should have been,” said Silversmiths Head Coach Greg Dombrowski. His team left 15 runners on base, which is an issue to work on in the future.
Baquer, Neal, Brice, and Hopkins each had two hits for the home squad. All except for Brice scored two runs. Neal and Brice both batted in one runner.
Sherrill (14-11) has the day off Tuesday, but will face the Geneva Red Wings (13-11) on Wednesday at 5 p.m. in Noyes Park. Cortland (10-13) will play the Syracuse Salt Cats (15-12) at home starting at 7 p.m.
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