By ABIGAIL SCHMIDT
HOUGHTON, N.Y. — Jensen Kirch (Wabash) went the distance as the Wellsville Nitros defeated the Genesee Rapids, 9-0 in New York Collegiate Baseball League action on a rainy Sunday afternoon at the Kerr-Pegula Athletics Complex.
Kirch scattered four hits and two walks while fanning nine for the win.
“Jensen threw a gem,” Wellsville head coach Jake Bannerman stated. “He came out and shoved right away. His slider was really nice and had all the righties off balance.”
The right-hander did not allow a runner past second until the ninth inning.
“I think getting ahead early (in the count) was the main thing,” said Kirch when asked about the keys to his success. “I was hitting the zone with the fastball early and then I could get that slider in to work it ahead of people so they swing and miss instead of hitting it.”
Kirch faced 33 batters and threw 113 pitches (75 for strikes). With a slider running away from the right-handed batters he retired 11 straight from the second through fifth innings.
“I felt really good with in the pen,” Kirch said of his slider. “I just got over the top of it and it just dove away from their bats. It was really effective because I was painting the outside with the fastball, and it just made the slider that much more effective.
Wellsville’s defense committed one error on the day.
“It was fantastic,” Kirch said of the gloves behind him. “I’m not going to overpower anybody, so I get a lot of ground ball to my infield and making sure that they’re backing me up. It’s always a great feeling to know you have a great defense.”
“He had our guys off balance all game,” stated Genesee manager Tyler Rost.
The Nitros finally broke through in the fifth inning. After a leadoff walk by Juan Reina (Bloomfield), Miguel Ortiz (E. Nazarene) hit a ball into right field to put runners on first and second. A Chris Collins (Hamilton) bunt loaded the bases, then his brother Kenny Collins (Hamilton) plated Ortiz and Reina with a seeing-eye single through the right side of the infield.
“The bottom of our order was on today,” Nitros head coach Jake Bannerman stated. “Ortiz, (Chris) Collins and Reina – all three of them were hitting the ball really well. It really lengthens our lineup when the guys in the middle are struggling. It got us going.”
Chris Collins scored the final run of the inning off a Bruce Strickland (Felician) sacrifice fly, and Wellsville led 3-0.
The Nitros exploded for five more runs in the seventh inning. Scott Eisenmenger (St. John Fisher) chased Genesee starter, John Kopicky (Ohio Northern) with a double to center.
Donald Killian (U of Buffalo) and Dylan Rajkovich (Webster) greeted Genesee reliever Edward Monthie (Houghton) with back-to back singles and the Nitros led 5-0. A triple by Reina brought Rajkovich and Killian home before the Rapids changed pitchers again, this time bringing Karlis Graubics (Marymount) to the mound.
A stolen base by Chris Collins gave Reina room to score the fifth run of the inning, making it 8-0 going into the eighth.
“When a guy comes out throwing strikes it’s very easy behind him to get some momentum,” Bannerman said of the way his team got behind Kirch’s pitching.
Scoreless in the eighth, the Nitros struck again in the top of the ninth against the fourth Rapids’ pitcher of the afternoon, Jake Shelby (Hesston). This time it was Nitro Ryan Bonafede (Hilbert) that crossed the plate to make the score 9-0. That’s where it would stay for the rest of the game as the Nitros took home their first win of the season.
“We need to be more defensively sound,” says Rost. “The conditions weren’t great but we needed to be more solid.”
Kopicky took the loss. He gave up six hits, five earned runs, walked five batters and struck out three in six innings.
“He gave us a chance to win,” says Rapids’ head coach Tyler Rost.
Ortiz went 2-for-3 with two walks and a run scored for Wellsville.
The Nitros next game is Monday, June 1st at Rochester as they take on the Ridgemen.
Bannerman is optimistic moving forward, saying that his guys were “starting to get into it. They’re starting to barrel at balls instead of just missing, so that’s good to see.”
Looking ahead, the Rapids aim to improve as they take on the Olean Oilers at the Kerr-Pegula Athletic Complex in Houghton on Tuesday, June 2nd.
Abigail Schmidt is junior communications and business major at Houghton College.
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