By PATRICK McGLYNN
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — In his first start of the season, Steven Theetge (Bryant) out dueled Patrick Shore (Stonehill) as the Syracuse Jr. Chiefs defeated the Oneonta Outlaws 2-1 in New York Collegiate Baseball League action Thursday night at Onondaga Community College.
Theetge finished with a line of 7.1 innings pitched, allowing just one run on seven hits and one walk. He registered seven strikeouts and earned his first win. On the Outlaws side, Shore pitched six innings and gave up two runs on seven hits and one walk to go with five punch outs.
“Theetge is a high school kid so I was not sure what we were going to get out of him today.” said Jr. Chiefs manager Matt Colbert. “We bring him in today and hope for the best and that’s what we got. We got a kid who is confident and is composed. We got a pretty good lefty arm.”
Theetge started his day by walking Oneonta leadoff hitter Tyler Bruno (Iona), but after that he was locked in. He retired 15 of the next 18 batter, five of them on strikeouts. Oneonta had a chance to to get to him in the fifth inning when Taylor Maxey (Tennessee Tech) drove a two out double into the left center gap. However, Theetge stepped up and struck out Hayden Gerlach (Grand Canyon) to end the threat.
Theetge’s opposite, Shore, did a great job to keep the Outlaws in the game. His biggest moment came in the bottom of the fourth, with the bases loaded and only one out. He got a groundout that brought home just one run and then a strikeout to end the inning without any further damage.
“It was a classic pitcher’s duel,” said Outlaws manager Joe Hughes. “Both teams threw the ball well. Shore is a hard nosed competitor and did what pitchers are supposed to do. He put our team in a position to win.”
The Jr. Chiefs were able to break the deadlock with a run in both the third and fourth innings. In the third inning, Jr. Chiefs centerfielder Michael Blatchford (Ohio Wesleyan)started a rally with a two out single to left field. Justin Healey (Widener) followed with a single of his own and then Alex Perry (Salve Regina) hit a single to right field. Perry’s single was enough to score Blatchford from second base, but Jordan Bradley’s (Wofford) made a great throw from right field to get Healey as he tried to reach third base, ensuring the inning would end with just the single run.
In the fourth, Philip Madonna (Siena) and Brian Colbert (Keuka) hit consecutive one-out singles back up the middle. Tyler Flaherty (Ohio Wesleyan) smacked a single to right field to load the bases with just the one out. Samuel Ellinwood (Amherst) hit a ground ball to Outlaw second baseman Bruno who flipped to second base to get Flaherty, but that allowed Madonna to score and double the Jr. Chiefs’ lead. Shore would limit the damage by striking out Alex Schutz (St. Bonaventure) to end the inning.
The Jr. Chiefs would threaten to add a third run in the seventh inning. Schutz beat out an infield single with one out in the inning and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Blatchford’s single to left moved Schutz to third and brought up Healey with runners on the corners and one out. The Outlaws were able to get out of the inning though, thanks to the help of an unorthodox double play. First, Healey lined out to left-fielder CJ Krowiak (Binghamton) who threw it in to shortstop Tyler Martis (Siena), who made the heads up play to rifle the ball to first base to double up Blatchford and end the inning.
In the eighth inning, the Outlaws finally began to get to Theetge. Bruno led off with a single up the middle and then Griffin Barnes (Grand Canyon) followed with a single through the left side. After that, Colbert would come to the mound to talk with his young pitcher, but left him in to face Greg Saenz (Grand Canyon) Theetge was able to get Saenz to ground right back to him for the first out of the inning.
“My thought was to get a ground ball. After that I knew the guy coming in after me would get the job done,” said Theetge.
That would be the end of Theetge’s night as George Max Navadel (St. Thomas Aquinas) came in to relieve him. Navadel got a ground out that scored Bruno and moved Barnes to third, but then got a flyout for the final out of the inning with the Jr. Chiefs lead still intact. Christopher Pennell (St. Thomas Aquinas) would pitch the ninth inning and did not allow a hit, striking out two of the three batters he faced to complete his fourth save of the season.
“When I took Theetge out I just shook his hand and told him not bad for your first time,” said Colbert. “After that we got it to the right guys, our setup guy and our closer, two guys we feel extremely confident in.”
David Ehmen (Wofford) and Jack Fleming (North Georgia College and State) both pitched well out of the Outlaw’s bullpen. Each pitched a scoreless inning with Ehman allowing two hits to go with a strikeout and Fleming striking out two batters without giving up a hit. Blatchford went 2-4 with a run scored while Maxey also went 2-4 with a double.
The Jr. Chiefs next game will be tomorrow against Sherrill at 7:00 pm at Onondaga Community College while the Outlaws will travel to Cortland where they will play a 6:00 pm game against the Crush at Beaudry Park.
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