By Cameron Boon
HORNELL, N.Y. — It was the night of the Connors in game one of the Western Championship Series, as Connor Grey (St. Bonaventure) shut down Geneva for 7.2 innings, and Connor Lewis (Monroe CC) went 2-for-4 with two RBI, and the Hornell Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the WCS with a 4-2 victory over the Geneva Twins in New York Collegiate Baseball League playoff action Thursday night at Maple City Park.
Conner Simonetti (Kent State) also had a nice night for the Geneva Twins, putting up two singles.
“You have to win two and you only have three chances so tonight was huge,” Hornell manager Tom Kenney said.
Lewis drove in the first two runs of the game. His bunt single in the fourth scored Hank Morrison (Mercyhurst) to tie the game, and then his single to left scored Morrison again to give the Dodgers a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
“I had good at-bats and was just able to square the ball up and hit it hard,” Lewis said.
It was the Twins who struck first however, and one of their big bats provided it. Fernando Garcia (Murray State) laced a two-out, bases-loaded single to center. DJ Link (Harvard) scored easily from third, and Tre Edwards (Murray State) was given the green light to try and score as well.
But a laser from center from the arm of Brandon Sandoval (Vanguard) went right to the catcher Jake Marinelli (Mercyhurst), who easily tagged out Edwards to end the inning. In a close game like this one was, that turned out to be a very big moment in the contest with the hot-hitting Sean Feeney (Wilmington) on deck.
Grey started a little shaky allowing three free passes in the first two innings by way of two walks and a hit batter. After the second, he settled down, retiring 14 of his next 17 batters.
“Against these guys, you can’t give them anything free,” Kenney said. “But once he got a lead, he really bore down.”
Grey finished the night striking out seven batters while allowing seven hits and walking four.
“I was able to work the slider in with the fastball and it kept the hitters off balance,” he said.
The Dodgers tied it in the fourth off a Lewis single and looked to score more as they had runners on first and third with one out. But a critical mistake was made.
On a suicide squeeze attempt, Jordan Climpson (Cameron) popped the bunt up to pitcher Greg Coman (Harvard). With Spencer Scorza (Cornell) almost at home plate, Coman ran over to third himself to get the final out.
Lewis was able to touch home in the next at-bat. Climpson beat out a grounder for an infield hit when there was confusion in the Geneva infield and Lewis scored from second to make it 3-1 Hornell.
“We just came out and made a couple of bad plays, and those were really the difference in the game,” Geneva pitching coach Andy Weeks said.
The Dodgers increased the lead to 4-1 in the seventh. With Jake Kenney (SUNY Brockport) on second base, Jimmy Latona (Monroe CC) set down a sacrifice bunt. Twins’ pitcher, Cory Teachout (Ashland), tried to make the play, but instead threw it away. This allowed Kenney to score and Latona to go to second.
“Especially with a good opponent, one or two errors can really change the outcome of the game,” Weeks said.
The Twins made three in this one, which is something you cannot do in a playoff atmosphere.
Geneva would rally in the ninth, however, against Hornell closer Thad Johnson (St. Bonaventure). With runners at the corners and one out, Zach Goldstein (Southern New Hampshire) laced a single, scoring Jason Ibrahim (Arkansas Pine-Bluff) to make it a 4-2 game. With one out and the three and four hitters coming up, the Twins offense had to have felt good.
But Garcia struck out and Feeney grounded out on a close play at second to end the game and give Hornell the 1-0 advantage in the WCS.
“We threw well, got runners on base, but just couldn’t get the big hit,” Weeks said.
It will be a pitching matchup for the ages Friday night up at McDonough Park, as Jordan Accetta (Wofford) will throw for the Dodgers, and David Anderson (Muhlenberg) will go for the Twins.
“We have a great pitcher going and as long as we keep hitting the ball the way we have been we’ll take care of it,” Grey said.
First pitch at the Big Mac for Game 2 is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
Leave a Reply