By Cameron Boon
WEBSTER, N.Y. — For only the second time in its 12-year history, the Athletes In Action franchise is headed to the NYCBL playoffs. It’s the first time for the Rochester Ridgemen, who have been in existence for three years, as they clinched when they defeated the Olean Oilers 4-0 in front of their home fans at Basket Road Field in New York Collegiate Baseball League action on Monday night.
“It’s a nice boost in the system to know that you’re going to the playoffs,” Rochester’s first-year manager Brady James said.
Connor Hamilton (Cedarville), their consistent ace all season, pitched another stellar game, allowing only five hits and walking no one while striking out three batters in a complete-game effort, his fifth win of the season and in his last five decisions.
Rochester also won its 25th game of the season Monday night, which is a new all-time AIA franchise record.
“It’s an honor and exciting to be a part of it,” he said about this team’s run.
This was also Hamilton’s fourth complete game of the season, which ties him with the NYCBL lead with three other pitchers.
Hamilton was in control for most of the night, pitching five 1-2-3 innings and only running into trouble in the seventh, when the Oilers were able to load the bases with two outs.
“I kept leaving the ball up and giving them good pitches to hit,” Hamilton said.
He was able to get the ball back down, and induce a ground out to keep the shutout intact.
Also, in the 33 batters he faced, Hamilton threw a first-pitch strike to 27 of them. This 81.8% FPS is the second highest this season.
“Anytime you get ahead in counts and move the ball like he did tonight any team is going to struggle,” Olean manager Bobby Bell said.
The Oilers are not yet out of the race but they will need some help. They are six games behind the Niagara Power for the fourth playoff spot, and they have eight games left. Olean would have to go at least 7-1 to force a play-in game with Niagara, and that’s if the Power lose their final six games of the season.
Alex Lopez (Texas Weslyan) pitched well until the eighth, finishing with 7.1 innings, allowing four runs (none earned), on three hits, along with four walks and four strikeouts. His defense didn’t help him in the inning, committing two huge errors. He also finished with 129 pitches, 72 of which were strikes.
“We’re in that situation where it’s all hands on deck,” Bell said. “As long as he felt and looked good, we were going with him.”
The first error came when the first batter of the inning, Matt Emge (Pittsburgh) who was pinch-hitting for Trent Sullivan (MidAmerica Nazarene), grounded a ball to third. James Ott (Bloomsburg), who then fired the ball off the Oilers dugout, bobbled it.
The second came on a bases-loaded ground ball by Alex Storaci (Blue Mountain CC). The second baseman Evan Ryan short-hopped the throw to first, and Michael Fahrman (Florida) couldn’t handle it.
Chase Burrow (Mary Hardin-Baylor) already scored on the grounder, but the error allowed Andy Santana (Geneva) to round third and score.
Alex Mumm (Judson) cashed the other two runners for his 12th and 13th RBI of the season with a line-drive single to center, driving in Ethan Luna (Southwestern) from third and Storaci from second to ice the game and give Rochester the 4-0 lead they would drive home with.
Business is not done yet for the Ridgemen, however. They sit one game behind the Geneva Twins for second place and first-round home field advantage, something they did not have in the first round of their first playoff appearance in 2009.
“We just need to keep doing all the little things that we can do and if it’s in the cards for us to be second, then it’s cool,” James said right before he got drenched by two players dumping the Powerade bucket of water on him.
The AIA franchise, in Alfred at the time, went to the West finals where they lost to the Hornell Dodgers back in 2009.
Rochester has three more games left on its schedule, all against the Niagara Power. Wednesday and Friday are set for Sal Maglie Stadium up in Niagara Falls, while Thursday night is at Basket Road Field. All games are scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
The final surge from the Olean Oilers starts Tuesday night, when they head back home to Bradner Stadium to take on another team chasing that final playoff spot, the Genesee Rapids (20-23) . First pitch there is also scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
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