Ridgemen defeat Power

By Justin LaDuca 

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. – The Niagara Power entered play Friday needing one win to gain a spot in the New York Collegiate Baseball League post-season. Niagara will have to wait another day before celebrating.

The Rochester Ridgemen batted around in a four-run sixth and went on to defeat Niagara, 9-6 in NYCBL action at Sal Maglie Stadium.

 

Chase Burrow (Mary Hardin-Baylor) sparked the decisive rally with a one-out double plating Will Bass (New Mexico JC) and Alex Mumm (Judson).  Alex Storaci (Blue Mountain CC) singled home Larry Vidaurre (Nyack) and Burrow to cap the inning. Rochester led 8-4.

 

The Ridgemen took a commanding 4-0 lead through the first four innings.  Vidaurre and Shane Soria (Glendale CC) led the game with back-to-back doubles. Soria scored on a Storaci sacrifice fly. Mumm gave Rochester a 3-0 advantage in the first when he singled home Ethan Luna (Southwestern).

 

Ridgemen starter Preston Williams (Case Western Reserve) held the Power without a hit through three, and a Colton Roberts (Toccoa Falls) RBI single in the fourth made it a 4-0 game.

 

However the Power would come back.  Caleb Lang (Philadelphia Biblical) stepped to the plate in the bottom of the fourth with Tyler Marcinko (Piedmont College) on first base and smacked a deep fly ball over the left-center fence for Niagara’s first home run of the year.

 

“It was great to, at the time, keep my team in the game,” Lang said later.  “Wins are most important for our team right now.”

 

The Power tied it up in the fifth. Jarret James reached when he was hit by a pitch. Ivan Acuna (Catawba Valley CC) followed with a single. Marcinko moved the runners with a sacrifice bunt. One out Ryan Wagley (Arlington Baptist) hit a ground ball to the left side of the infield. When the throw to first was off-target, James and Acuna scored.

 

But that was as close as the Power get. Niagara scored twice in the bottom of the ninth inning courtesy of an RBI double by Lang.

 

Jackson Sigman (Glendale CC) went three and two-thirds for the win. He allowed two runs on four hits and a walk. The right-hander fanned five.  Sigman is now 4-0 with a 1.48 ERA.

 

Tyler VonDracek (Whitworth) took the loss. He started and went three and a third allowing four runs on six hits. VonDracek is 2-2 with a 5.76 ERA.

 

Lang went 2-5 and drove in four. Acuna collected two hits and scored two runs. James crossed the dish twice.

 

Soria paced Rochester’s offense with two hits and RBI and a run scored. Storaci had two RBI.

 

Rochester closes the regular season 27-19. The Ridgemen move on to the post-season where they face the Geneva Twins in the first round of the 2014 NYCBL playoffs. Game one of the Western Division semi-finals is set for 1 p.m. Sunday at McDonough Park in Geneva.

 

Niagara is now 21-23 and still holds a half game lead over the Genesee Rapids (21-25) for the final playoff spot in the West.  The Power close the regular season at home with a double header against the Olean Oilers (15-29). The opener is the completion of a suspended game. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. Niagara needs one win to clinch a playoff berth.  Two Olean wins dictates that the Power and Rapids will play early Sunday afternoon to determine who advances to play Hornell in the first round.