By CODY LOVE
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Salt Cats third win of the season, and in a row, looked like their best so far.
Jose Colon (Rutgers-Camden) continued his quality play at the plate, and Kyle Taylor (Gloucester County College) finished it off on the mound as the Salt Cats took control in a 5-2 victory over the Cortland Crush in New York Collegiate Baseball League action at Onondaga Stadium on Thursday night.
Colon went 3-for-4 at the plate, including an RBI double in the sixth that was part of a three-run inning. He is playing well to start the season, having also hit a home run in Sherrill on Wednesday.
“He’s got a good swing, and he’s got a lot of control right now,” head coach Mike Martinez said after the game.
Colon attributes his recent success to keeping it simple at the plate.
“Just staying within myself, and trying not to do too much with the pitch,” Colon said.
The Salt Cats overcame an early deficit that saw Cortland score a run each in the second and third innings off starter Sean Pisik (Ursinus). Though he found himself in a slight bit of trouble early, Pisik minimized the damage and settled in well in his five innings of work, striking out six.
Cortland starter Shae Edmonds (Howard Payne) also allowed two runs in five innings of work, but his pitching was a big part of the reason the Crush seemed to have the edge early.
“He did a great job,” head coach Bill McConnell said, “Good velocity, great changeup.”
The Salt Cats big sixth inning brought a close to the scoring for the evening, but Cortland put together a major threat in the eighth.
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After the Crush loaded the bases with only one out against Corey Ross (St. Thomas), the Salt Cats turned to Taylor.
Taylor worked his team out of the jam and stayed on for the ninth, striking out four in less than two innings pitched and earning the save.
His velocity proved too much for the Crush to handle.
“He’s a 90-baller, he’s tough to hit,” Martinez said. “He’s a big strong guy that works hard, and kudos to him. He came out and did the job.”
Taylor knew his strength and used it to his advantage.
“Fastball, fastball, fastball,” Taylor said, “You use it the entire time.”
McConnell recognized the difficulty for his players facing the hard-throwing lefty.
“The guys never gave up in there, they’re ready to hit,” McConnell said, “He’s throwing gas…guys have got to get up there and not watch the pitches go by.”
Cortland’s top offensive performers were Grant Hoover (Shippensburg) who went 2-for-4 and scored a run, and Wesley Burghardt (SUNY Brockport), who hit an RBI double in the third.
Syracuse’s Matt Mastroianni (SUNY Oneonta) had a good day at the plate with two hits and three RBI. His day on the basepaths was more mixed. While he did have a stolen base, he was also picked off twice.
First baseman Brian Bilello (Concordia) went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
The Salt Cats (3-1) next take their three-game winning streak on the road, playing a two-game series against the Oneonta Outlaws (2-0) on Friday and Saturday at Damaschke Field. The Crush (0-2) heads home to Cortland looking to turn things around. They open up a three-game set against the Syracuse Jr. Chiefs (2-1) at Beaudry Park on Friday.
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