By Cameron Boon
WEBSTER, N.Y. — After being shut out in game one, there were questions as to whether or not the Rochester Ridgemen bats would come alive in this New York Collegiate Baseball League Western Divisional Series. They answered with a resounding yes!
In front of their home crowd at Basket Road Field, the Ridgemen offense exploded and held off the Geneva Twins for a 10-7 win in NYCBL action, Tuesday night. The victory forces a decisive game three Wednesday evening at McDonough Park.
Ethan Luna (Southwestern) and Andy Santana (Geneva) led the charge with three RBI, and Matt Emge (Pittsburgh) added a pair as the 4-5-6 hitters in the Ridgemen lineup drove in eight of the runs.
“We were definitely more energized today,” Ethan Luna (Southwestern) said.
The win was extra sweet for manager Brady James, as he celebrated his birthday Monday.
The game that was originally scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m, didn’t start until 8:30 p.m and thus, didn’t end until 11:30 p.m.
“It was a very long day and I’m proud of these guys for their fight,” James said.
Rochester jumped out early and did not look back in the bottom of the first. Trent Sullivan (MidAmerica Nazarene) pretty much produced his own run, with a little help from Will Bass (New Mexico JC). Sullivan reached on an error. Two pitches later he was on third base after back-to-back stolen bases. Bass then drove him in with a single up the middle, and Rochester had the early 1-0 lead.
The Ridgemen added three in the third. After back-to-back singles by Bass and Nick Wolyniec (Bergen CC) to lead off the inning, Luna shot a double to the right-center field gap, scoring both and increasing the lead to 3-0. Luna then scored when Holt Davis (UAB) reached on a two-out error by Connor Simonetti (Kent State) who wasn’t able to handle a throw, and the lead was now 4-0 Rochester.
Luna has now had a hit in seven of his last nine games, three of which produced more than one knock.
“I’ve just been really disciplined and trying to pick up the ball early,” Luna said.
It looked as if Rochester was in control.
But the Twins cut the lead in half in the top of the fourth thanks to one swing by Brett Connors (Siena). He launched a deep single to center field, over the head of Shane Soria (Glendale CC), to score Mike Annone (Wilmington) and Zach Goldstein (Southern New Hampshire) to make it a 4-2 game.
Other than that, the Twins were not able to get a lot of offense going, only generating four hits in the first six innings.
“There were a lot of bad at-bats,” Geneva manager Nick Callahan said.
The Ridgemen blew the game open in the fourth, putting up four to double their run total. Emge came up to the plate with bases loaded and drove in a run the painful way, as a ball hit his finger before glancing the bat. Sullivan scored to make it 5-2.
Cue Santana’s moment in the spotlight.
“I was just trying to stay small and drive it the other way,” he said.
He definitely drove it, as he took a 2-1 pitch and sent it on a rope to the right-center field gap, clearing the bases and giving Rochester what looked to be an insurmountable 8-2 lead at that point.
The rains came and soaked the field, as if it needed any more water after close to 12 hours of continuous rain throughout the day. It changed something for the Twins though, as they came out firing on all cylinders.
“It definitely slowed the game down and let us compose ourselves,” Connors said.
It did the opposite for Rochester, as they came out and compiled their first 1-2-3 inning of the game.
“For some reason, that just slowed us down,” James said.
The Twins made a game of it in the seventh, closing a six-run gap down to one.
Annone singled in Fernando Garcia (Murray State) to make it an 8-3 game. Goldstein then drew a bases-loaded walk to score Sean Feeney (Wilmington) and cut the lead to 8-4. Annone touched home on a DJ Link (Harvard) single, and then Connors reached on a fielder’s choice, allowing Jason Ibrahim (Arkansas-Pine Bluff) to score and then on Bass’ throwing error, Goldstein touched home.
In a blur, it was an 8-7 game and the momentum had shifted to Geneva.
Geneva had a chance to at least tie it in the top of the eighth when there were runners at the corners and one out. But Brian Epstein (Clarendon), cool, calm, and collected, was able to get Annone to ground into a crucial 4-6-3 double play that seemed to take the air right out of the Twins.
Luna and Emge were able to give the Ridgemen breathing room in their half of the eighth. Luna’s second RBI at-bat of the game drove in Chase Burrow with a single.
Then Emge, for the second time, drove in a run by getting hit by a pitch.
The single came after two consecutive intentional walks in a row, one to Bass and one to Wolyniec. Always a risky decision, this time it came back to bite Callahan.
Jackson Sigman (Glendale CC) was able to come on in the ninth and shut the door after allowing back-to-back singles to leadoff the inning. He earned his third save of the season in the process.
Stephen Chandler (Arkansas-Little Rock) took home the win, going 3.1 innings in relief of Casey Whittle (Union), who only went 3.1 as well, which doesn’t qualify him for a win.
Rochester came in and got what they were looking for, which was a decisive game three against the Twins Tuesday night at McDonough Park. They will also be riding in on an offensive high, and if they can keep that going, they will be very confident in their chances with Jacob Chipka (Hope) slated to start.
Jake Shields (Case Western) will get the start for Geneva.
“We had confidence coming into today, and we’ll have confidence going into (Tuesday),” James said.
Geneva, on the other hand, has to drive back home in the dark Rochester night, as they were not out of the ballpark until close to midnight. They should have no problem getting up for the rubber match tomorrow, though.
“The adrenaline and excitement of playing the game will get them through the day,” Callahan said.
A 7 p.m. start is slated at McDonough Park.
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