By ANTHONY SAMBROTTO
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. The Niagara Power continue to find the perfect blend of quality starting pitching and big hits from the middle of the lineup.
Niagara defeated the Olean Oilers 6-2 Tuesday night in New York Collegiate Baseball League action at Sal Maglie Stadium.
Getting the start for the Power was right-hander A.J. Bruner (Trinity International University), and just like Niagara’s previous three starters, he pitched a solid game.
Olean actually opened the scoring in the top of the first when Jonathan Lapolla (Suffolk University) singled home a run. The Power wouldn’t be down for long, however, as a half-inning later the bats came alive off Olean starter Austin Bizzl e(Alabama State University).
The scoring began off the bat of one of the hottest hitters in the NYCBL, Caleb Lang(Cairn University), as he smashed a triple over the head of the centerfielder to score two runs. Two batters later, Lang scored on a single from Caleb Thomas (Colorado School of Mines).
With little rest for the scorekeeper the Power added two more the following inning with a double from left-fielder Mason Irby (Jones County Junior College) over the heads once again of a shallow outfield. Lang and Jordan Hayes (Olivet Nazarene University) came around to score for the Power to make it 5-1.
Bizzle remained in the game for inning three, which saw him settle down until two errors put several Power runners on the bags. A throwing error by the Olean shortstop allowed Jessep Polk (North Greenville University) to score and put the Power up by five.
While his offense was clicking, Bruner kept dealing and retired 10 straight batters after he loaded the bases in both the first and second innings.
“In those innings to get out of the jams I just tried to make some big pitches,” Bruner said. “I tried to get my fastball on the corners and tried to throw my breaking ball for a strike.”
The game saw only one more tally, as pinch-hitter Matthew Kamenicky (Clarion University) drove in a run in the bottom of the fifth for Olean to make it 6-2.
Both Oilers’ runs were unearned for Bruner.
Olean manager Bobby Bell decided to let Bizzle work the complete game, which he has now done in all three starts this season. Bizzle finished with eight innings pitched, seven hits, five earned runs and four strikeouts. He has a 2.63 ERA on the season.
Niagara manager Josh Rebandt, who didn’t need his bullpen for either game of Saturday’s doubleheader, decided to call on them in the eighth on Tuesday.
Nathaniel Lagos (North Greenville University) and Nick Campe (Olivet Nazarene University) threw two shutout innings of relief.
Bruner pitched seven innings, giving up no earned runs and eight hits. He is 2-1 on the year with a 3.26 ERA.
“When you get these kinds of starts from your starters and you can have the bullpen come through with shutout innings, you are going to win a lot of games, ” Rebandt said.
The Power have done just that, and with Tuesday’s win they now sit in a tie for first place in the NYCBL’s Western Division.
While much of the attention was once again paid to the pitching, both Rebandt and Bruner couldn’t ignore the early-inning show the hitters put on.
“These guys are seeing the ball well and putting it in the gap and I feel like we are just getting more comfotable at the plate as the season goes on,” Rebandt said.
With this being Bizzle’s second summer in the NYCBL, the Power have a better sense of what to look for when he is on the mound. ” Coach Godbee(Niagara’s assistant coach) had a great plan of attack against Bizzle,” Rebandt said. “He is a guy we saw last year and he is a great pitcher, but tonight we put together a plan on how to hit on him, and we executed it.”
“Everyone came ready to swing today and it was a great feeling as a pitcher to see that,” Bruner said.
All starters on each team reached base at least once in the game, but Olean will be haunted by leaving 11 men on base.
Nathan Stanley (Toccoa Falls College) reached base three times for the Power.
The same two teams meet again tomorrow night at 7 p.m., with the Power(9-4) once again hosting the Oilers(6-6) at Sal Maglie Stadium.
the power’s 6-2 victory over olean Tuesday was not only its third win in a row, it was the third consecutive game completed in less than two hours… full disclosure: one was seven innings, but that one took less than 1:20…
pointstreak has its own computer-driven way of keeping time, but I keep it on a stopwatch, starting when the pitcher goes into his first windup… bluntly, I’m right and they’re wrong…
looking over last night’s figures, it’s hard to parse, as the game had seven walks and seven strikeouts and the first THREE innings took 0:57, so they played the last 5 1/2 in 1:02…
lotta first-pitch swinging, couple pickoffs, couple double plays, they speed it along…
still, it is remarkable