By CAMERON BOON
WEBSTER, N.Y. — Anything that is done once, can be done again. So, say if a pitcher throws a complete game shutout in game one, that would be able to be duplicated in game two.
That was the case at Basket Road Field on Wednesday night, as Cameron Carney (Tusculum) and Mitchell Donahue (Toccoa Falls) each hurled complete-game shutouts for the Rochester Ridgemen en route to a doubleheader sweep, 1-0/4-0 of the Wellsville Nitros in New York Collegiate Baseball League action.
“Two pitchers threw outstanding games,” Ridgemen head coach Joe Schallenberger said after the game. “One labored a little bit but still fought through it, and the other labored at the very end but was able to finish it up so it was fun to watch.”
After walking the bases loaded in the first inning, Carney was able to settle down and record 11 strikeouts in a 1-0 Rochester game one victory.
“Today it was a lot of momentum and adrenaline,” the Niagara Falls, NY native said after his first start in nearly two years. “My plan coming in was to establish the fastball and until someone proves me wrong I stick with it.”
He was able to dominate throwing a majority of fastballs for his 139 pitches, 77 of which were strikes.
Donahue then followed it up with a seven-inning effort of his own, recording only three walks the entire game while striking out four Nitros hitters.
The Ridgemen scored their lone run of game one in the first inning of the seven-inning affair, and it was well-manufactured. Shane Soria (Westmont) led off the bottom of the inning with a single to left-center field.
He moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Ryan O’Hearn (Hillsdale) and then onto third on a groundout to second by Cole Metcalfe (Bellarmine).
Soria, who finished 3-for-6 with two RBI in both games, then scored on a dropped third strike that was thrown away by Wellsville catcher Luis Gonzalez-Paris (Eastern Nazarene).
“They had the momentum from the second inning on,” Nitros manager Jake Bannerman said.
Besides walking the bases loaded and striking out the side in the same inning, the only trouble Carney ran into was in the fifth inning when he allowed the first two runners to reach base and nobody out.
“The fact that he did not know who I was coming in and to leave me in really brings me up,” Carney said.
After Schallenberger went out to talk to his pitcher, Carney settled down and was able to get out of the jam by getting two fielder’s choice groundouts and a strikeout. As Wellsville did to Rochester in Tuesday’s game, the Ridgemen were able to put up four runs in an inning, the bottom of the third to be exact by only recording one hit in the frame.
Tage Johnson (Houghton) started the inning by reaching on an error, and then scored on an error when Armando Valentin (Benedict) dropped down a sacrifice bunt.
The throw from the bunt by pitcher Chris Ossa (Genesee CC) went down the right field line, allowing Johnson to score, and Drew Farmer (Western Michigan) moved to second.
The next batter, Soria, then provided the dagger with a two-out triple down the left-field line and give Rochester a 3-0 lead. He then scored on an O’Hearn sacrifice fly and give Rochester their final tally of 4-0.
“Shane is seeing the ball as well as he did last season when he left the league,” Schallenberger said. “I can count on him in that area.”
No other batter besides Soria and Wellsville’s Donny Kilian (SUNY Buffalo), who went 2-for-3 in game one but sat out game two, batted over .500 on a day in which pitching dominated.
The team’s combined four pitchers held their oppositions to just 15 hits in the 14 innings of baseball played.
Rochester will look to make it three wins in a row tomorrow when they play host to the Niagara Power at 7:00 p.m. at Basket Road Field.
“As long as the pitchers throw strikes and the defense makes the plays behind him, we’re going to be okay,” Schallenberger said.
Tomorrow, that responsibility of throwing strikes falls on Zach Leonard (Lancaster Bible), and boy does he have quite the act to follow.
Wellsville has a day off before traveling to Olean Friday to take on the Oilers. A 7 pm first pitch is scheduled at Bradner Stadium.
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