By Cameron Boon
WEBSTER, N.Y — “They aren’t 24-6 just for kicks,” Rochester manager Brady James said after Sunday’s loss to the Dodgers.
Joe Gnacinski (Mercyhurst) and Hornell showed why they are the best team in the New York Collegiate Baseball League, and the Rochester Ridgemen were the victim. Gnacinski went eight dominant innings, and the Hornell Dodgers put up double-digit runs for the for the 12th time this year in a 10-0 defeat of Rochester in NYCBL action, Sunday night.
“It was as nice of a performance as I’ve seen all year,” Hornell manager Tom Kenney said.
Gnacinski finished with eight innings pitched, only allowing four Rochester hits and striking out eight batters.
“My catcher (Jake Marinelli (Mercyhurst)) and I had a great plan and we stuck with it all game because it worked,” Gnacinski said.
Before the Erie, PA native even stepped on the mound at Basket Road Field, he was in control of a 3-0 lead.
“Everything comes easier with a lead,” Kenney said.
Rayshelon Carolina (Monroe CC) led off the game with a single and then scored when Hank Morrison (Mercyhurst) drove in his 28th RBI, which is one behind teammate Spencer Scorza (Cornell) who has 29, for the league lead.
Thaddeus Johnson (St. Bonaventure) scored off an error by Rochester shortstop Larry Vidaurre (Nyack), and then Blake Thomas (Webster) drove in Morrison with a sacrifice fly and Hornell seemed to be in control before the Ridgemen even grabbed a bat.
Once they did grab a bat, Gnacinski was killing them. Whether it was an outside fastball, or a changeup down that was chased, he was in control from start to finish. He retired the first 17 batters he faced, until back-to-back hits from Alexander Mumm (Judson) and Trent Sullivan (MidAmerica Nazarene) broke up the bid for perfection.
“I think he had a real shot at it. He was throwing three or four pitches for strikes,” Kenney said.
Gnacinski was so dominant that only three Ridgemen base runners were able to advance to second base and none of them went 90 feet further to third.
“He was able to mix up,” James said. “It’s hard to hit a pitcher who’s hitting his spots.”
The big blow came in the fourth, when the game was on the brink of being a blowout, as the Dodgers had the bases juiced with one out and Brandon Sandoval (Vanguard) at the plate. He smoked a 2-0 pitch to the right-center field gap, clearing the bases and scoring Marinelli, Jake Kenney (SUNY Brockport), and Carolina to make it a 7-0 game and taking all of the air out of the Ridgemen at that point.
Carolina scored three runs in the game, along with a 2-for-5 game. Sandoval finished 3-for-5 with that triple being all of the RBI he contributed in the game. Scorza and Thomas also contributed a pair as the Dodgers continued to roll through their NYCBL competition and are now 24-6 on the season.
After splitting the first four games, Hornell have won the last two matchups with the Ridgemen by a combined score of 22-3.
“We haven’t done the little things right in the losses,” James said.
“With teams winning every day behind us, if we don’t keep it up somebody’s going to catch us,” coach Tom Kenney said, as his team will send a league-high 10 players to the NYCBL All-Star game coming up on Tuesday at the Kerr-Pegula Athletics Complex in Houghton, NY.
The Ridgemen are sending six of their players to Houghton.
The Dodgers will look to keep the hot streak going and not let the break cool them off.
“The big thing is staying healthy and relaxed off of the field so when we get to the field, it’s all business,” Gnacinski said.
As far as the Ridgemen are concerned, had their three-game winning streak snapped, but moved up in the Western Division standings after the Niagara Power got swept in their twin-bill with the Wellsville Nitros today and are now 16-13 heading into the All-Star break.
“The big thing is we need to keep focusing and stay together as a team,” James said.
These two teams will come out of the break and face each other for the final time this season on Wednesday at Maple City Park with first pitch scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
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