By PAT McGLYNN
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — In a game that featured 23 total runs and 25 hits, the Geneva Red Wings came out on top with a 12-11 victory over the Syracuse Jr. Chiefs in New York Collegiate Baseball League action Tuesday night at Onondaga Community College.
The loss snaps the Jr. Chiefs’ three game winning streak as well as giving them their first home loss of the year. They are now 5-3 on the season while the Red Wings now have a 4-2 record.
The Red Wings struck first when Casy Kies (SUNY Oneonta) scored on an error, and then Zach Wingate’s (Birmingham South) single drove home Tanner Ivey (Alabama A&M) to make the score 2-0 after one inning.
However, Syracuse scored 10 of the next 12 runs. The Jr. Chiefs took their first lead in the bottom of the third with four runs. Justin Healey’s (Widener) single scored Samuel Ellinwood (Amherst) and then Alex Perry (Salve Regina) drove a deep triple to right center that scored Michael Blatchford (Ohio Wesleyan) and Healey. Perry would score the first of his three runs when Shane Trevino (IPFW) singled to make the score 4-2.
“Perry is a guy we knew coming into the season is going to be a big part of what we want to do” said Syracuse manager Matt Colbert. “He is a guy we expect big things from.”
The Jr. Chiefs used a two-out rally for a big inning in the fifth.
Perry reached on a one-out infield single and then stole second base. One out later, Philip Madonna (Siena) singled, and RJ Pingitore (Southern Vermont) and James Wynne (Dean) followed with walks to score Perry. Ellinwood singled up the middle and scored Madonna. A throwing error on the play allowed Pingitore to score from third. After a Michael Elfreth (Widerner) walk, Blatchford capped the rally with a double to left field that brought home Wynne and Ellinwood to open up a 9-2 lead.
The Red Wings began to claw back in the top of the sixth. Kies scored on a deep double from Tommy O’Hara (Tufts), who then scored on a single by Harry Roberson (Amherst).
But the Jr. Chiefs answered with a run of their own in the sixth. Trevino doubled to left center and then scored on a single by Pingitore, making the score 10-4.
That Red Wings comeback began in earnest in the top of the seventh. Much like the Jr. Chiefs big inning, all of the damage would be done with two outs. Walks to Matt Omori (Pomona-Pitzer) and Kies put runners on first and second base. A Jr. Chiefs error on a ball hit by Ivey allowed Omori to score and moved Kies to second.
O’Hara followed Ivey with a single to right and then a Jr. Chiefs throwing error allowed Kies to score. Next up was Wingate who singled to plate Ivey. Roberson was hit by a pitch to load the bases and then pinch hitter Lucas Zilli (Michigan State) worked a walk to score O’Hara. Finally, Omori was hit by a pitch in his second at-bat of the inning to score Wingate. That would be the fifth and final run of the inning and drew the Red Wings within one run.
“Up at the plate, we just became patient, it just became chipping away,” said Red Wings manager Ryan Kassab. “The guys got really patient, with a lot of walks and a couple of hit batters, and we were able to take advantage of it.”
The Red Wings took the lead with three runs in the eighth inning. They loaded the bases on walks by Nick Meo (Ithaca) and O’Hara and a single by Ivey. Wingate then came through with a single to tie the game. Roberson would work a walk to score the go ahead run and Omori singled home O’Hara giving the Red Wings an insurance run.
They would need it as the Jr. Chiefs got one run back in the bottom of the eighth when Madonna singled home Perry. That would be as close as they got though, with Kevin Elwell (Elizabethtown) shutting the door for Geneva. Elwell pitched the final 5.2 innings, allowing just two runs.
“By the time Elwell came in and gave us a spark, it was his game to finish,” said Kassab.
Wingate finished 3-5 and knocked in three runs. Kies had one hit and two walks and scored three runs. On the Jr. Chiefs side, Perry went 3-5 with two RBI and three runs scored.
The two teams will meet again tomorrow, this time with the game being played at McDonough Park in Geneva. The game is set for a 5:00 pm start.
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