By Paul Gotham
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Jordan Accetta (Wofford) needed to make a change. The Hornell Dodgers’ right-hander was struggling with his command. He did some work in the bullpen and made an adjustment. Judging by the results, it was the correct move.
Accetta established a New York Collegiate Baseball League single-season mark and paced Hornell to the best record in league history. For that and more the Charlotte, NC native earned the 2014 NYCBL Pitcher of the Year.
“This feels awesome,” Accetta said. “I just worked as hard as I could to get it. I did everything I could. I haven’t gotten something like this in a long time.”
Accetta went 9-0 in nine starts during the regular season. He struck out 45 and walked 19 in 55 and a third innings of work finishing with an ERA of 1.78.
“He had a fantastic year for us,” said Hornell manager Tom Kenney. “When it comes right down to it, the game’s about wins and losses, and he didn’t get beat. If you win every time you go out there, that’s more important than anything else.”
As Hornell made its run to the Western Division crown, Accetta was at his best. He allowed just one earned run over 24 innings in mid-July.
“He refuses to lose,” Kenney added. “You can’t ask for any more.”
Accetta made 13 appearances in the spring for the Terriers. He struck out 14 and walked 15 in 24.2 innings of work finishing 3-3 on the season. In his first outing with Hornell, he allowed three runs on five hits and four walks finishing the game with a WHIP (walks plus hits per inning) of 2.250. He held that number under 1.80 for the remainder of the season.
“He came in, and he was struggling a little bit with his control,” Kenney explained. “He was worried about his arm slot. He was trying to change a little and get more movement. It took him about one start and a couple times in the bullpen with Coach (Josh) Smith, and the two found it (arm slot) together. The rest of the year he just rolled. You can’t do much more than he did.”
“I just like the competition and having to push myself to be better than someone else,” Accetta stated after having to face Anderson who finished second in the NYCBL with eight wins.
Accetta broke the previous single-season high of seven wins held by Louie Bernardini (Saratoga Phillies ’06) and Jacob Petit (Utica ’11).
Hornell set an NYCBL record for wins and winning percentage going 38-8 (.826).
“Our whole rotation was great,” Kenney commented. “I’ll be honest with you, when it came time to vote for the pitcher of the year, I had a hard time separating our own guys. Every guy on there could have been.”
Anderson received seven first-place votes and finished second with 81. Drew Doring (Geneva Red Wings/John Carroll) got four first-place nods and finished with 59 points. Seth Cornell (Hornell/Houghton) earned 31 points. Olean’s Austin Bizzle (Gulf Coast CC), Cortland’s Greg Jasek (Clarkson) and Sherrill’s Zach Vennaro (Monroe CC) also took first-place selection selections.
Oneonta’s Luke Crumley earned 2013 NYCBL Pitcher of the Year.
2014 Pitcher of the Year
Jordan Accetta (8) 87
Dave Anderson (7) 81
Doring (4) 59
Cornell 31
Bizzle (1) 17
Others receiving votes: Billy Whaley (Geneva Red Wings/Norwich), Connor Hamilton (Rochester/Cedarville), Patrick Merryweather (Syracuse Jr. Chiefs/Onondaga CC), Blaise Whitman (Syracuse Salt Cats/Rhode Island), Jasek, Jacob Chipka (Rochester/Hope College), Vennaro, Zach Uher (Genesee/Baruch), Frank Rubio (Olean/University of Florida), David Wright (Sherrill/SUNY Oneonta), Zack Krivda (Hornell/Penn State Greater Allegheny), JT Genovese (Oneonta/SUNY Albany), Taylor Hicks (Oneonta/University of Georgia), Shane Cochran (Syracuse Salt Cats/Saginaw Valley St.).
Contributing to this article: Tim Mullhaupt.
Paul Gotham is the founder, owner, editor and lead writer at Pickin’ Splinters. Paul is the Communications and Media Director of the New York Collegiate Baseball League. He is a contributor at USA Today and member of the USBWA. You can follow Paul on Twitter @PickinSplinters.
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