Oneonta holds on to force game three

By Nate Discavage

ONEONTA, N.Y. — The Oneonta Outlaws held off the upstart Sherrill Silversmiths 3-2 Tuesday night at Damaschke Field in game two of  New York Collegiate Baseball League Eastern Divisional Series action.

Trailing 3-2 heading into the bottom of the ninth, Sherrill managed to get the tying and winning runs on base. Justin Datillo (University of Maryland-Eastern Shore) started the inning with a walk off of Oneonta reliever, Brandon Agar (University of North Georgia). Ellington Hopkins (Monroe Community College) bunted Datillo to second before Brian Baquer (Washington College) walked. Agar bore down and forced Reid Neal (Florida Atlantic University) to fly out to left before striking out Kevin Brice (Pomona-Pitzer College) to seal the win for the Outlaws.

“The tension definitely got up,” Sherrill first baseman, Christian Triplett  (North Carolina Central) said. “We got the jitters up a little bit and though we had it, but it’s a tough loss.”

The Silversmiths drew first blood in the bottom of the second. Kellen Brown (Florida Atlantic University) singled before moving to third on Alex Saville’s (Monroe Community College) single. He came home to score on an RBI single by Triplett.

The game remained 1-0 until the top of the sixth. Dan Fickas (University of South Carolina-Upstate) singled and Ramon Osuna Sachez (College of Charleston) walked to start the inning. Designated hitter, Jimmy Hand (Northeastern) tied the game with an RBI double to the right center gap. Carson Waln (Wofford College) put Oneonta ahead with a two-run double to right field to plate Osuna Sanchez and Hand.

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“I was trying to stay simple and hit something hard on the ground to the right side,” Waln said. “The biggest thing for us is to stay relaxed.”

After six innings, the Outlaws led 3-1.

Sherrill would add another run in the eighth when Triplett delivered his second RBI single of the game to drive in Juan Carlos Pena (College of Central Florida).

The Silversmiths blew multiple opportunities to extend their lead early fouling off three different suicide squeeze attempts that would have given Sherrill a key run.

“We have to execute. I felt today the execution part cost us the game, especially the first four innings not getting runs across and moving runners over when we needed to,” Sherrill coach, Greg Dombrowski said. “That’s the difference in the game, but you forget about it and come back tomorrow ready to play.”

Triplett and Pena both went 2-3 on the night.

“I talked with coach a little bit and found out a couple things that I was kind of off with the last couple days,” Triplett said following the game. “Talking with him kind of worked it out.”

Hand, Waln, and Kody Ruedisili (Wofford College) all had two hits for Oneonta. The trio combined to go 6-12 on the night.

Agar took home the win. He pitched four and one-third innings allowing one run on three hits and striking out six.
Sherrill starter, Mitch Cavanagh (St. John’s University) suffered the loss for the Silversmiths. In six innings, he gave up six hits and struck out seven batters.

Taylor Hicks (University of Georgia) started for the Outlaws, but exited the game early after three early errors by Oneonta led to extra base runners. He allowed one run in four and two-thirds innings and struck out three.

Daniel Jarrell (Washington College) came out of the bullpen to pitch the last three innings for Sherrill. He scattered two hits and struck out two.

Although the Silversmiths were the home team, poor playing conditions in Sherrill required the game to be played in Oneonta.

The Outlaws will host game three tomorrow at Damaschke Field. Jack McClure (St. Bonaventure University) is scheduled to pitch for Sherrill while Oneonta is still undecided. Both teams look to move on in the Eastern Division Series and will face either the Geneva Red Wings or Syracuse Salt Cats on Thursday.

“They’re a scrappy ball club, and they are a hard team to put away,” Outlaws’ coach, Joe Hughes said. “Hopefully we get good pitching and timely hitting and come out tomorrow with the W.”