By PAUL GOTHAM
GENEVA, N.Y. — For now, the transition looks complete.
Geneva Twins manager Andy Weeks doesn’t need his team to play their best baseball for another week or two. When that time comes, the first year head coach has found another starter.
Christian Vukas (Wabash) hurled six shutout innings for his first win of the season as Geneva rebounded for a doubleheader split (5-1/1-0) with the Olean Oilers in New York Collegiate Baseball League action at McDonough Park, Friday afternoon.
Vukas scattered five hits, struck out four and walked one in his longest outing of the season. After starting the summer coming out of the bullpen, Weeks is looking to the the left-hander to make an impact during the stretch run for the playoffs.
“Christian Vukas went in there, stepped up and did a great job,” Weeks said. “He’s making the transition into the starter role. We got him a run and that was enough.
“That’s what I’m looking for. I’m not trying to play our best baseball for another week or two.”
The Lafayette, Indiana native pitched out of a bases loaded, one out situation in the fifth getting a lazy fly ball and a ground out to the right side of the infield.
“I knew my defense was going to perform behind me, so I made pitches I had to make,” Vukas said. “I didn’t try to do too much with them knowing that I had everybody making plays behind me.”
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Kyle Monk (Emory) came out of the bullpen and slammed the door shut for his seventh save of the season.
“He’s come here and done a great job for us all season long,” Weeks said. “It’s very comforting as a coach to be able to hand the ball over to a kid and say ‘go win me a game.’ I have confidence in him every time.”
Andy Lalonde (So. New Hampshire) provided the only run needed with a one-out RBI double in the fourth. JT Pittman (Le Moyne) led the frame with a base hit to left. One out later, the Geneva left fielder stole second and Lalonde delivered with the only run off Olean starter, Adam Rigney (Nichols).
“That’s the thing about a doubleheader,” Weeks said. “You may only win one game, but it doesn’t mean you lost the day. Had another chance to come back and win again. We didn’t make any errors. Our pitchers threw strikes consistently.”
The Vukas performance served the purpose of a perfect response to Olean’s Brandon Schlimm (St. Bonaventure) who allowed one run on five hits over seven innings.
“That kid is great,” Olean manager Bobby Bell said. “He’s really coming along as far as his mentality of pitching.”
After allowing a weak single to leadoff the first, Schlimm settled in and retired the nine he faced.
“Sometimes it takes a runner at second base before he locks in,” Bell added. “Once he locks in, he’s really good.”
The right-hander struck out five and walked none.
“I felt decent with my fastball and my change-up,” Schlimm said. “I never really found my curveball. I just tried to throw strikes and let everybody make some plays.”
Pittman started the fourth with a broken-bat single. Connor Simonetti (Kent State) reached on a hit by pitch. One out later, Bryan Rubin (Emory) brought home the run with a bloop single.
“He might not have had his A-game, but he was up there,” Bell noted. “He looked a little tired. I got a little worried about him at one point when his pitch count started getting a little higher toward the 75-80 mark. He did look a little tired. He was good today.”
Sam Kysor (USC-Upstate) put Olean ahead with a two-out solo shot in the third.
“I was just looking for a good pitch to drive,” Kysor said. “Fastball down the middle. I was seeing it well from the start of batting practice. It’s a jet stream blowing out to right.”
The round tripper provided irony for the Olean leftfielder who mis-communicated the start time of the game to his dad.
“It was funny,” Kysor added. “I told my dad the wrong game time. I told him it started at one. As soon as I told him that I knew I was going to get a home run. I knew he was going to miss a home run. I just had this feeling.”
David “Bubba” Hollins (St. Petersburg Coll) and Mike Fahrman (University of Florida) started the third with back-to-back doubles as the Oilers pushed their advantage to 3-0. The duo combined for three hits and three runs in the game.
“It’s helping so much with Mike there to protect Bubba and Bubba to protect Mike,” Bell said. “It’s going to be nice as we get going in the second half.”
Hollins singled and scored from first on a Dan Pellinen (Friends Coll) two-out bloop hit in the fifth. Isaac Dillard (Gulf Coast CC) doubled home a run in the sixth.
Schlimm threw 95 pitches – 64 for strikes.
Geneva (14-13) gets a day off before traveling to Houghton to take on the Genesee Rapids (13-13). First pitch on Sunday is scheduled for 2 pm.
Olean (12-13) hosts Wellsville (6-21) for a noon start on the Fourth of July.
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