By Paul Gotham
Adding insult to injury. Punch in the gut. Snake-bitten.
That’s what it has to feel like for Bobby Bell and his Olean Oilers. With 20 games remaining on their 2014 New York Collegiate Baseball League slate, the Oilers wear a record of 9-17. The team which advanced to the NYCBL post-season in its first two years in existence now sits five game out of the playoffs.
After Sunday’s game, kick in the crotch might be more appropriate.
Looking to win their fourth game in five, Olean held a three-run advantage over the Eastern Division-leading Geneva Red Wings. The advantage disappeared, but Olean put runners on the corners with one out in the ninth. Sam Kysor (USC-Upstate) lifted a fly ball which appeared deep enough to score Michael Roman (St. John Fisher) from third. That is until Andrew Utterback (Alabama A&M) launched a cannon from right field.
The leading run was out at home. Olean’s threat ended with a double play.
“We took our chances and tried to make our own break,” Bell commented. “Kudos to them for making the play.”
Utterback described it later as a “once in a lifetime throw.”
Olean nearly flat-lined in the bottom half of the inning. Geneva loaded the bases without an out. But Dylan Callahan (Trinity) responded and set down the next two batters on punch outs before fielding a come-backer with his bare hand to end the inning.
Olean’s heart monitor reading bounced.
Ted Dilts (El Camino) rapped a one-out double. Brett Bauth (Erie CC) came on to pinch run. Mike Fahrman (University of Florida) reached on an error. Bauth advanced ninety feet.
Then, in eerie fashion, the scene played out again.
Mark Lepri (Aquinas) lifted a fly ball this time to left field. Jordan Haas (Arkansas Pine Bluff) settled under it and fired a strike to home for the inning-ending catch and throw out double play.
Who said lightning can’t strike twice?
“You can’t imagine that happening twice in a row,” Bell said. “The first time is all right. That’s a good play. Do you ever see two times right in a row, back-to-back innings like that?”
Olean needs to play .700 ball (14-6) the rest of the way just to reach .500. Last year they finished four games above even and came within an eyelash of taking eventual champion Oneonta to a third and deciding game in the NYCBL semi-finals.
Bell and his Oilers need to look no further than their 2-8 record in one-run contests. Those games decided by the smallest of margins are the difference between their current ledger and a .500 mark. Consider this: if the Oilers were 4-4 in those eight losses, they sit at an even 13-13.
And it’s not a stretch to think this way.
Two of Olean’s setbacks in the first ten games came as the result of close plays late in games. After surrendering an 11-4 lead to Niagara Power on June sixth, it appeared Olean recovered to score the winning run in the bottom of the ninth. That is until an appeal erased the 12th run. Niagara went on to win 14-11 in 11 innings.
One week later, the Oilers lost 3-2 to first-place Hornell when the tying run was thrown out at home in the bottom of the ninth. It was the third of three straight one-run setbacks to the Western Division leaders.
Olean resumes play after the NYCBL All Star Game with four on the road. They travel to play the second-place Geneva Twins, Wednesday before heading to Basket Road Field for a Thursday tilt with third-place Rochester. Olean plays back-to-back nights at Houghton College against Genesee on Friday and Saturday.
“Hopefully down the road we can string together a few wins.”
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