By Paul Gotham
HOUGHTON, N.Y. — Credit Jordan White (Hutchinson CC) with the ability to adjust. With 19 relief appearances under his belt the Genesee Rapids hurler recently made the transition to starter. Sunday, White hurled a gem.
White went the distance as Genesee (20-22) kept their playoff hopes alive defeating the Geneva Twins (24-16), 5-1 in New York Collegiate Baseball League action at the Kerr-Pegula Athletic Complex.
White struck out two, walked two and allowed six hits as Genesee postponed any post-game celebrations for the visitors.
“I was just bearing down and throwing strikes,” the Kingswood, TX native said. “I was just trying to keep the game close as long as I could.”
The 5-9 right-hander surrendered just one base hit through the first three innings and did not allow a runner past second until the fourth frame.
“I was keeping them off-balance with my fastball-slider combo,” White noted. “That was working really well.”
Geneva touched White for just one extra-base hit – a fourth inning leadoff double off the bat of Fernando Garcia (Murray State College) – as he improved to 2-1 on the season.
“He was in the bullpen first half of the year,” Genesee coach Tyler Rost said. “He threw really well out of there, so we bumped him into the rotation. He’s done really well.”
The Rapids wasted little time giving their starter some run support.
Michael Kerr (Houghton) led the home half of the first with a double. Tony Schultz (Northwestern College) followed with a single, and Andrew Bonnette (Walsh) delivered the game’s first run with an RBI base hit.
Genesee got all the runs they needed with a two-out rally in the second.
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Schultz made it a 2-0 game when he plated Christopher Welch (Mississippi Coll) with a double. The Genesee catcher took a 2-1 offering from Matthew Klena (Penn St. Greater Allegheny) and found the right center field gap.
“He threw an inside fastball,” Schultz commented. “I was kinda looking for that. I squared it up and went with it.”
Bonnette kept the rally alive with an RBI single. Jack LaMarca (Ohio Northern) capped the outburst with an RBI triple to right center.
Genesee led 4-0.
“We’ve struggled with two outs especially and runners in scoring position,” Rost added. “So that was big, especially at the beginning of the game and get us started on the right foot.”
Genesee added an insurance run in the third. Dalton Combs (Huntington) and Chaz Tanner (Virginia Wise) knocked back-to-back one-out singles before Welch brought home Combs with a single through the right side of the infield.
The win put Geneva’s celebration on hold and coupled with a Niagara Power loss pulls the Rapids within a game of the fourth and final playoff spot in the NYCBL’s Western Division.
“We’re just another step closer to going to the playoffs,” Schultz said.
Geneva scratched a run across in the fifth. Bob Barnett (Widener) led with a single and moved to third on a hit-and-run when Mitchell Lake (Mt. Union) found the spot vacated by Tanner. When the Genesee shortstop couldn’t field the ball cleanly with his backhand, Lake reached first and Barnett moved to third. Janson Borque (Louisiana St-Eunice) brought home the run with a sacrifice fly.
Geneva threatened in the eighth, but Genesee’s defense stepped up. Kerr took away extra bases from leadoff man Zach Goldstein (So. New Hampshire) with a diving over-the-shoulder catch in left field. Mike Annone (Wilmington) singled through the middle before Garcia put runners on the corners with a base hit. Calvin Woolhiser (St. John Fisher) stepped to the plate and drilled a 1-0 pitch, but Kellen Creech (Ave Maria) fielded the ball cleanly at third and started an inning-ending around-the-horn double play.
“They hit a couple balls hard that were right at us,” Rost noted. “We were fortunate that they were at us. When you can turn double plays like that, you can save pitchers and save games.”
Kerr’s defensive gem was a response to a similar play by Mike Konyesni (Mt. Union) who robbed him in the previous stanza. The Geneva left fielder went to the fence and pulled back a home run off the bat of Kerr.
“I got a good break on it,” Konyesni explained. “The ball just kept carrying. Next thing you know I’m up against the fence. Thank God I have some hops, I guess. I got up high enough to get the ball…I’m just out there doing my job.”
The loss was the second straight for the Twins and third in their last four. The Western Division’s second place team is 5-5 in the last 10 contests.
“We can’t get guys out in the first three innings,” Geneva coach Nick Callahan stated. “That’s why we’re losing ballgames. We don’t have a starter who can step up and take the ball and win a baseball game for us right now. We made a couple of decent plays. We need to make better plays.”
Bonnette led the Rapids with two hits and two RBI. LaMarca, Schultz, Tanner and Welch all collected two hits apiece.
Kerr reached in the fifth when he was hit by a pitch. He leads the league with 16 HBP and is one off the single-season mark since 2006 held by Daniel Hall (Niagara ’10).
Barnett and Garcia had two hits apiece for Geneva.
Neal Krentz (Case Western Reserve) tossed two scoreless innings in relief for the Twins. John Nargoski (Iona) retired all three batters he faced in the eighth.
The same two teams close their regular season series Monday night back at Houghton. A 7 p.m. first pitch is scheduled.
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