By Cameron Boon
HOUGHTON, N.Y. — In a game where pitching dominated and hits were hard to come by, runs were going to be at a premium for two teams battling for the fourth and final playoff spot in the New York Collegiate Baseball League’s Western Division. Tyler Marcinko (Piedmont) knew that when he roped a two-out, RBI double to right, scoring AJ Hammond (Millersville) and giving the Niagara Power a big 3-2 victory over the Genesee Rapids in NYCBL action Sunday afternoon at the Kerr-Pegula Athletic Complex.
Had the Rapids pulled out the win, there would’ve been a tie for that final playoff spot but instead, now Niagara has pulled into a two-game lead with 11 games left for each club.
The starters Jared Knowlton (Houghton) and Blake Hohlbein (Huntington) combined to retire the first 22 batters of the game, with Hohlbein surrendering the first baserunner by hitting Genesee’s Tony Schultz (Northwestern) with a pitch.
The first run of the game, however, would not be scored until the sixth inning. Again, it was courtesy of Marcinko. He lofted a sacrifice fly out to right, scoring Michael Crowley (Huntington) from third to give the Power the lead.
Michael Kerr (Houghton) tied the game in the bottom of the eighth for the Rapids, lacing a single up the middle that plated Chaz Tanner (Virginia Wise) from second.
This chased Hohlbein from the mound, who finished with 7.1 innings, allowing only four hits and striking out five.
Hohlbein was credited with the second run because he walked Jason Euler (Mesa CC), who would come around to score on Schultz’s infield single to give Genesee the lead heading to the top of the ninth.
Lane Hanzel (Anderson) was on for the save in the final frame, and after getting the first two Niagara batters to ground out, it looked as if he would earn his third save of the season. Instead, he blew his first opportunity of the season.
Back-to-back doubles by Caleb Lang (Philadelphia Biblical) and Jack Trotman (Massachusetts Lowell) tied the game at three, forcing the bottom half of the ninth to be played.
Zach Verner (John Carroll) retired the Rapids in order and for the second straight night, both the Rapids and the Power went to extras. Genesee went 12 with Olean Saturday night, while Niagara took the Hornell Dodgers to 10 in the first of two games.
Hammond reached on an error by the shortstop Tanner and advanced to second on the play. After Crowley and Gabriel Sevigny (Olivet Nazarene) both were retired, the stage was set for Marcinko’s heroics.
In the bottom half, Christopher Welch (Mississippi) and Schultz were able to work walks against the man who earned the save in the 2014 All-Star Game, but Andrew Bonnette (Walsh) popped out to short to end the game.
The Power (18-17) will head up the Thruway to take on the Rochester Ridgemen (19-16), who currently hold third place in the division, Monday night at 7:00 p.m. at Basket Road.
Meanwhile, the Rapids (16-19) take the short trip to Olean to visit the Oilers (10-21) at Brander Stadium. First pitch for that game is also scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
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