Oneonta’s comeback falls short; Jr. Chiefs win, 10-7

By NATE DISCAVAGE

ONEONTA, N.Y. — Trailing 10-1 entering the bottom of the fourth inning, the Oneonta Outlaws refused to back down. Despite scoring six unanswered runs, the Syracuse Jr. Chiefs’ lead was just too much. Syracuse took the first of the two-game series 10-7 Thursday night at Damaschke Field in New York Collegiate Baseball League action.

Syracuse scored all 10 of its runs in the first four innings despite tallying only two hits in that span. Nine walks, three errors and two wild pitches all combined to help the Jr. Chiefs build their lead.

Trevor Putzig (Tennessee Tech University) and Greg Saenz (Grand Canyon University) led off the bottom of the first with back-to-back singles before Zach Kridler (South Carolina-Upstate) knocked an RBI single for the Outlaws’ first run of the game. Putzig would add an RBI double in the fourth inning as he finished the night 2-for-6 with a double, RBI and run scored.

Both teams traded scoreless innings until the Outlaws unloaded for five runs in the bottom of the eighth. Zach Blonder (Maryville College) highlighted the outburst with a two-run double. He later scored on a sacrifice fly by Tyler Martis (Siena College).

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Oneonta could not complete their comeback, however, as Christopher Pennell (St. Thomas Aquinas) came on in the ninth to shut down the Outlaws and picked up his eighth save of the season for the Jr. Chiefs. He lowered his ERA to 0.58.

Steven Theetge (Bryant) earned the win for Syracuse. He allowed two runs in six innings pitched. The 6’3″ freshman from Cicero, New York, earned his second win of the season.

Jack Fleming (North Georgia) suffered the loss for the Outlaws. He allowed six runs with seven walks in two innings. Fleming has walked 17 batters in 13 innings this season.

With the win, the Jr. Chiefs improve to 11-10. The Outlaws fell to 9-8 on the season. The two teams play again tomorrow with Roman Wild (St. Bonaventure University) pitching for Syracuse and Michael Adams (Albany) taking the hill for the Outlaws.