By Cameron Boon
WEBSTER, N.Y. — Connor Hamilton (Cedarville) went the full seven innings for the victory in game one. So, naturally, David Anderson (Muhlenberg) had to one-up him, as he pitched seven innings of shutout ball in game two of a New York Collegiate Baseball League doubleheader, Thursday night at Basket Road.
The Ridgemen were able to take game one 4-3 behind the great pitching of their hometown starter, while Anderson recorded his seventh win of the season in a 5-0 game two victory. The seventh win of the year is the second most of any pitcher since 2006, with Jordan Accetta (Wofford) recording eight and counting for this year’s Hornell Dodgers.
“I try not to think about it but it’s always in the back of your head,” Anderson said.
The split of the doubleheader meant that the Ridgemen took the season series 4-3, meaning in a tie for second, Rochester would have the advantage and home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
In game one, Rochester and Geneva traded leads in the first two innings. The Ridgemen put up two in the bottom of the first to go up 2-0, and then the Twins answered with three in the top of the second to make it a 3-2 game.
Two RBI singles in the first inning gave Rochester the early advantage. Ethan Luna (Southwestern) singled in Shane Soria (Glendale CC) from third to make it 1-0, and then Alex Storaci (Blue Mountain CC) made it 2-0 with his single that scored Luna.
Zach Goldstein (Southern New Hampshire) cut the lead to one when he singled to score DJ Link (Harvard) and make it a 2-1 game. Mitchell Lake (Mt Union) tied the game with his own RBI single, scoring Connor Simonetti (Kent State) to make it 2-2. Michael Konyesni (Mt Union) gave the Twins the lead at 3-2 when he beat out a double-play ball, allowing Goldstein to score.
“I was throwing good pitches, and they were just hitting them where they weren’t,” Hamilton said.
That didn’t last long, as Hamilton would retire 15 of the next 16 batters to finish out the game. He has now won his last five decisions, including one in the 2014 NYCBL All-Star Game.
“He started to get those pitches down again,” Rochester manager Brady James said.
The Ridgemen offense was able to produce just enough for the victory.
Rochester tied the game in the third, when Matt Emge (Ohio State) singled. This moved Luna to third, who then scored when the right fielder, Bob Barnett (Widener), misplayed the ball.
Luna then got the game-winning RBI in the bottom of the sixth, when he worked a bases-loaded walk. This scored Soria to give Rochester a 4-3 lead. Rochester drew three straight walks after the first two batters were out in the inning.
“I wanted to take until I got a strike,” Luna said. He only got one in the at-bat with reliever Kevin Berge (St. John Fisher).
The middle of the lineup was the key to victory for Rochester in game one, as each of the 4-5-6 hitters had two hits.
In game two, Anderson shut down the Ridgemen bats. He only allowed three hits and walking two. After using two bullpen pitchers in the first game and not having a lot of guys available for game two, the complete game from Anderson was just what the doctor ordered for Geneva.
“We knew we wouldn’t have to back up Dave because of how good he’s been all year,” Geneva manager Nick Callahan said.
Chase Burrow (Mary Hardin-Baylor) took the ball for Rochester, and in his first start since high school, the lack of starting was evident as he gave up three runs in the first two innings.
The Twins gave Anderson an early 1-0 lead to work with. Fernando Garcia (Murray State) reached with a double down the left field line. After going to third on a wild pitch, he scored on a sacrifice fly by Mike Annone (Wilmington).
Lake drove in the second run for Geneva, an RBI single that plated Calvin Woolhister (St. John Fisher) making it 2-0.
Justin Green (Wabash) then crossed home to make it 3-0, when he scored on Sean Feeney’s (Wilmington) sacrifice fly.
The Twins then added two insurance runs in the top of the sixth. Goldstein scored Simonetti with an RBI single to make it 4-0. Then Lake scored Green with a single of his own to make it 5-0, where it would stand for the rest of the game.
Geneva will look to hold onto its three-game lead over Rochester with ten games left on the schedule. They will head back home to McDonaugh Park Friday night when they take on the team with the league’s best record, the Hornell Dodgers, at 7:00 p.m. “We just want to take it game by game,” Anderson said.
The Ridgemen will try to gain ground on Wellsville with only six games left on their schedule. They will also be at home Friday night when they take on the Nitros at 7:00 p.m. “We just have to keep doing the little things right,” Luna said.
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