By Cameron Boon
WEBSTER, N.Y. — Stephen Chandler (Arkansas-Little Rock) dealt eight innings of two-hit ball, and the Rochester Ridgemen took advantage of a depleted Wellsville pitching staff putting nine runs up on 13 hits and shutting out the Nitros 9-0 in New York Collegiate Baseball League action at Basket Road Field, Friday night.
Chandler earned his third win of the season in a game in which a Wellsville runner did not reach third.
“It was old-school, dominant Stephen Chandler,” Rochester manager Brady James said.
Chandler broke a string of five straight losses in the game with his last win being against this Nitros team on June 21.
The Nitros have struggled with injuries recently, and after Avery Ford (Fulton-Montgomery) was taken off the mound after five innings, Wellsville’s manager Pat Leipold, had to pitch three position players.
“He (Ford) made competitive pitches all night long, which is all you can ask him to do,” Leipold said.
Wellsville has now lost three in a row, with their last win coming on July 16 in their 11-3 romp victory over Rochester.
Trent Sullivan (MidAmerica Nazarene) scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the second. Shane Soria’s (Glendale CC) bases-loaded walk allowed Sullivan to touch home and give Rochester an early 1-0 lead.
Nick Wolyniec (Bergen CC) ended a two-game, six-AB hitless streak when he lofted a single over the head of second baseman Sean Geisel (SUNY Brockport) and into right. Alex Mumm (Judson) and Soria scored to give Rochester a comfortable 3-0 lead.
At this point, Chandler was rolling. He would go on to retire 13 batters in a row, and finish with seven 1-2-3 innings to keep the Nitros bats silent.
“I was locating my fastball and they were getting themselves out, whether it was a ground out to third on an inside pitch, or a fly out to right on an outside one,” Chandler said.
Chandler finished with three walks and six strikeouts on the night, in addition to only allowing two hits.
“You don’t want to let them get back in (the game) without them earning their way back,” he said.
He certainly did his part, not walking too many batters, but the Rochester defense did its part. They did not commit a single error in the game, making it three games in a row without a defensive mistake.
On the offensive end, the game-plan was patience for Rochester and it worked to perfection. Ford walked eight batters in just five innings of work while throwing 98 pitches.
“We made him work so we could get to their bullpen,” James said.
And with that bullpen being position players, the Ridgemen definitely took advantage, as they were able to put up six runs to blow the game open.
Only one was scored in the bottom of the sixth though. Wolyniec popped a one-out double down the right field line, and then Matt Emge (Pittsburgh) followed with a double to deep left-center. This scored the second-year Ridgemen player from second and made it a 4-0 Rochester lead.
It was in the seventh that Rochester was able to blow it open, putting up a five-spot. After Sullivan was hit by a pitch, Mumm smoked a triple that one-hopped the fence in left-center. This scored Sullivan easily and made it a 5-0 Ridgemen lead.
Once Josh Beams (Indiana U Southeast) took over on the mound, the runs didn’t stop. Beams’ first batter, Larry Vidaurre (Nyack), lined a single to make it 6-0 as Mumm crossed home easily.
Vidaurre then touched the plate when pinch hitter Holt Davis (UAB) hit a single to left and it was 7-0 Rochester.
Andy Santana (Geneva) and Davis then scored when a ball off the bat of Case Smith was misplayed by Wellsville shortstop Benjamin Haefner (Buffalo) and scooted into left field and the scoring stopped there.
“With all the extra-innings and close ball games we’ve had, we’ve been dying for a game like this,” James said.
The goal is to get more of them down the stretch, as Rochester (23-18) has a day off Saturday before playing another one at home when the Niagara Power (20-19) come to town Sunday for a 5:00 p.m. start. With two more wins, the Ridgemen will clinch their first playoff spot in the three-year history of the team in Webster.
The Nitros (10-29) are in spoiler mode at this point, and they’ll get a chance to help spoil the Geneva Twins’ (23-14) first round home-field efforts, as they clash tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. at McDonough Park.
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