By Nate Discavage
ONEONTA, N.Y. — The Oneonta Outlaws are moving on to the Eastern Division Championship Series after beating the Sherrill Silversmiths 5-4 in New York Collegiate Baseball League action at Damaschke Field, Wednesday.
The intensity of the game peaked in the ninth inning. Trailing 5-4, Sherrill continued to fight back. Alex Saville (Monroe Community College) drew a walk to lead off the ninth. He advanced to second on a bunt by Christian Triplett (North Carolina Central University). Justin Datillo (University of Maryland-Eastern Shore) flew out before David Wright (SUNY Oneonta) singled to left field. Saville rounded third but was cut down at the plate by a strong throw from Taylor Jones (University of North Georgia) to end the ball game. Saville collided with Oneonta catcher, Carson Waln (Wofford College) as the ball and runner arrived at almost the same time, but Waln was able to hang on after being hit.
“The biggest thing was to block the plate and catch the ball,” Waln said. “You just have to stand in front of there and hope you don’t get hit too hard.”
For the third straight game, Sherrill scored first. Juan Carlos Pena (College of Central Florida) led off the second with a walk and moved to second on a bunt by Saville. He came around to score on Triplett’s RBI single. It was Triplett’s fourth RBI of the postseason.
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Jimmy Hand (Northeastern) led off the bottom of the inning with a base hit to right field. He eventually came around to score on an RBI single by Waln. Initially ruled out at the plate on a close play, Nicholas Duarte (Siena College) dropped the ball allowing Hand to score. Waln later scored on an RBI single by Ben Mauseth (Grand Canyon University).
Wright and Ellington Hopkins (Monroe Community College) led off the top of the third with back-to-back singles. A double steal put runners on second and third with no outs. Brian Baquer (Washington College) tied the game at two with a sacrifice fly to center field. Reliever, Ethan Evanko (Grand Canyon University) came on to end the threat by striking out Read Neal (Florida Atlantic University) and forcing Kevin Brice (Pomona-Pitzer College) to ground out.
In the bottom of the fourth, Kody Ruedisili (Wofford College) and Mauseth hit one-out singles and Jones walked. Dan Fickas (University of South Carolina-Upstate) put the Outlaws back ahead with a sacrifice fly to center field. Ramon Osuna Sanchez (College of Charleston) knocked in Mauseth with an RBI single to right giving Oneonta a 4-2 lead.
Baquer hit a double to lead off the top of the sixth inning for Sherrill. He would come home to score as Brice hit an RBI single to make it a one-run game.
Oneonta loaded the bases again with walks by Waln and Ruedisili and a single by Tyler Martis (Siena College). With two outs, Silversmiths’ starter, Jack McClure (St. Bonaventure University) threw a wild pitch that bounced towards the Outlaws’ dugout and allowed Waln to come home with a vital insurance run.
Baquer got his second hit of the ballgame in the top of the eighth. He stole second and third base before coming home to score on a groundout by Brice. It was Brice’s second RBI of the game.
Wright and Baquer both had two hits in the ballgame for the Silversmiths. Baquer drove in one and scored twice.
Mauseth and Waln both had multi-hit games for Oneonta. They combined to drive in two runs and score three times.
Evanko earned the win for Oneonta. He pitched five innings of relief where he allowed one run on two hits and struck out three.
McClure suffered the loss for Sherrill. He gave up five runs on ten hits in seven innings pitched. The southpaw walked five and struck out four.
Daniel Farrell (Santa Ana College) earned the save by pitching the last two innings. He allowed one run on two hits and struck out one.
Sherrill reliever, Nate Westfahl (Ft. Scott Community College) pitched a perfect eighth inning for the Silversmiths. He struck out one.
Outlaws’ coach, Joe Hughes was ecstatic to move on to the next round after winning two straight elimination games.
“At this stage of the season, you just want to win and survive to move on,” Hughes said. “After a hard fought three games, we get to move on and it’s a good feeling.”
Sherrill’s coach, Greg Dombrowski was proud of his team’s success this season. It was the first time the franchise had reached the playoffs.
“I am really happy for the guys for just grinding it out and dealing with some adversity over the course of the season,” Dombrowski said. “What a great experience I think a lot of the guys had and it’s just a great summer and a lot of fun.”
Oneonta will play either the Geneva Red Wings in the Eastern Division Championship Series. First game is Thursday night at McDonough Park in Geneva.
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