By ANTHONY SAMBROTTO
ONEONTA, N.Y. — It was a tale of two halves Thursday night in Oneonta.
The Oneonta Outlaws withstood a late-inning rally from the Geneva Red Wings en route to a 4-3 victory Thursday night in New York Collegiate Baseball League action at Damaschke Field.
The Outlaws started the game strongly, scoring the first two runs in the bottom of the second off Geneva starter, Brandon Maddern (John Carroll).
Greg Saenz (Grand Canyon University) scored after a throwing error to make it 1-0, and designated hitter Hayden Gerlach (Grand Canyon University) tacked on another run later in the inning with a sacrifice fly.
The Outlaws picked up right where they left off in the following inning with RBI base hits from both Zack Blonder (Maryville College) and McClain Bradley (Wofford College) to make the score 4-0.
That would be the end of the offense for the outlaws as Maddern was able to settle down and finished the night with allowing three runs on six hits over five innings.
The bullpen then went to work for the Red Wings and stalled the Outlaws over the final three innings with solid pitching from Ben Murphy (Case Western Reserve University) who went 2.1 innings and Zack Tomasko (Elizabethtown College).
“I thought we were able to have a good comeback effort thanks to the pitchers keeping us in striking distance,” said Red Wings’ manager Ryan Kassab.
That comeback for the Red Wings began in the sixth inning, where Oneonta starter Patrick Shore (Stonehill College) had his shutout bid broken up.
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Matt Eastman(St. Bonaventure University) opened the scoring for the Red Wings with an RBI single off Shore.
Shore got out of more trouble later in the inning and “pitched a very strong game for the team,” said Oneonta’s manager, Joe Hughes. The right-hander threw six innings, giving up five hits and one earned run.
The scoring continued against Oneonta’s bullpen, with an RBI groundout by Christian Rosario (Hagerstown) in the top of the seventh to make it 4-2 Outlaws.
The Red Wings had a golden opportunity in the top of the eighth with the bases loaded and no outs for cleanup hitter Eastman.
Terry Dugdale ( University of Albany) was able to get Eastman to ground into a double play and allowed only one run to score making it 4-3.
The Outlaws found themselves in a similar predicament in the ninth inning with closer Joey Orlando (Endicott College) on the bump and runners on second and third with one out.
Once again Oneonta’s bullpen was able to get out of a jam as Orlando struck out the last two batters he faced to end the game.
“We had a big chance in the eighth and ninth innings and just missed on capitalizing in those spots,” Kassab said. “Tommy O’Hara came up big and gave us a shot to tie it or take the lead in the ninth.”
O’ Hara (Tufts University) finished the game with three hits, and scored in the sixth inning.
“The bats are starting to come alive for us and I feel we will make a strong case in upcoming games, ” Kassab said.
Bradley went 3-for-3 with two doubles, a walk and an RBI for Oneonta.
Orlando earned his first save of the season.
Saenz scored twice. Blonder drove in two.
Tanner Ivey (Alabama A&M) went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored for Geneva.
The Outlaws ( 2-0) host the Syracuse Salt Cats tomorrow night at 7:00 pm, while the Red Wings (1-2) return home to host the Sherrill Silversmiths at 7:00 pm.
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