Wild pitches J-Chiefs to split with Red Wings

By PAUL GOTHAM

GENEVA, N.Y. — Syracuse Jr. Chiefs manager Matt Colbert understands the double-edged sword of potential. The first-year coach also knows the time is now for his team to reach their capabilities.

If Thursday night is any indication, the Jr. Chiefs might be ready for a second-half run.

Roman Wild (St. Bonaventure) went the distance in a scheduled seven-inning affair as Syracuse rallied for a road split (6-2/2-1) with the Geneva Red Wings in New York Collegiate Baseball League action at McDonough Park Thursday night.

Wild struck out eight and walked one in the night cap for his first win of the season.

“He’s pitched really well for us all summer, Colbert said. “We haven’t put him in good positions to win games.”

The right-hander from Elmira, New York allowed just one runner past second base after the second inning.

“A lot of two-seam fastballs,” Wild said of his approach. “I was able to move it in and out.”

The sophomore noted that the seeds of this win were sown in his previous outing – game on June 26th in which he allowed one unearned run on four hits over seven innings.

“It clicked my last start,” Wild explained. “I struggled throwing strikes early in counts in my previous starts in the year. I found it last start and from there I’ve kinda gained more confidence.”

Syracuse eventually dropped a 4-3 decision to the Oneonta Outlaws that night.

“It’s not like he hasn’t pitched well,” Colbert stated. “He’s thrown extremely well…When we’ve been taking him out in the seventh or eighth innigs, it’s a 1-0 or a 0-0 game.”

With Thursday’s win, the Jr. Chiefs (14-13) take two of a three-game set from the second-place Red Wings (13-10).

“We’re making strides in the right direction,” Colbert said. “We’re starting really solidify guys in certain positions, in certain roles. Guys are starting to buy in a little bit more.”

Timing might favor  the Syracuse team which other than a three-game winning streak in the first week of the season hasn’t yet found traction this summer.

“Potential means nothing unless you can put it together,” Colbert commented. “It’s up to the staff, myself included and the rest of the guys to put in the hard work to live up to that potential. Especially in this division, there’s so much parity. Anybody can come out with it.”

Trailing in the third, Ryan Pignitore (Southern Vermont) led the Jr. Chiefs with a single up the middle. Michael Elfreth (Widener) followed with a base hit through the right side. After Justin Healey (Widener) moved the runners with a sacrifice bunt, Shane Trevino (IPFW) brought home Pignitore on a ground ball to the right side of the infield.

“We’re putting together more quality at bats,” Colbert said.  “The past couple of weeks have been just bad to be completely honest. We’re starting to put it together.”

Hitting out of the nine hole in the batting order, Pignitore finished 3-for-3 in the second game.

“I like it,” Pignitore said of hitting last in the lineup. “I see a lot more fastballs. I can gear up. Things come a lot easier when you’re seeing pitches to hit.”

A pair of bloop singles in the fourth frame produced the eventual winning run. Brian Colbert (Keuka) dropped a base hit in among three Red Wings in shallow left field to start the inning. Sam Ellinwood (Amherst) executed the sacrifice bunt. Brandon Campos (Villanova) moved the runner with a ground ball, and a flare off the bat of Alex Schutz (St. Bonaventure) found grass in shallow center field for the RBI.

Tanner Ivey (Alabama A&M) spotted Geneva to a one-run lead in the first with a single to right center scoring Casy Kies (SUNY Oneonta), but the Red Wings could not convert later.

Tommy O’Hara (Tufts) started the second with a stand-up double. One out later, Nick Meo (Ithaca) singled to put runners on the corners. Wild ended the threat with a punch out.

“Any time you can hold them to two runs, you expect to win a baseball game especially with what we have in our lineup,” Geneva manager Ryan Kassab said. “There’s timely hitting that was missing. Two-strike approaches were little weak tonight.”

Ivey paced Geneva in the opener with a two-run home run in the first. The Red Wing second baseman collected three hits in six trips to the plate.

“He’s definitely getting hot at the right time,” Kassab said. “He got a couple days off, and you can see his arms and legs are right back where they need to be. Right where he was in the first week of the season.”

Harry Roberson (Amherst Coll) delivered three more runs in the second with a bases loaded two-out double in the second. O’Hara reached on an error to start the inning. Matt Eastman (St. Bonaventure) followed with a single. One out later, AJ Compton (Elmhurst) walked, and Roberson drilled a shot into the gap in right-center field.

Brandon Maddern (John Carroll) allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits on six hits over six innings for the win in game one. The southpaw struck out two, walked two and improved to 2-1 on the season.

Andrew Shreiner (Frederick CC) worked a scoreless seventh.

“First game was great,” Kassab stated “The first game there’s energy; there’s life. We’re swinging it. Pitchers doing their jobs.”

But the loss was Geneva’s fifth in their last seven games. This coming on the heels of a five-game winning streak.

“It’s hard to say anything positive when you end the day on a loss. Everybody in here feels we should have taken two from them, obviously. What we’re talking about right now is a sense of complacency.”

The loss dropped Geneva a game and a half back of the east-leading Syracuse Salt Cats.

“We’re not looking to play our best baseball right now on July second, third, fourth, fifth,” Kassab noted. “We’re looking to play our best baseball July 12^th, 15^th, 18^th. Somewhere in that range and be ready for the playoffs. We’re going to be right in the hunt. We’re right in the mix. You get to playoffs anything goes.”

The Jr. Chiefs get a day off before facing their cross-town rival Salt Cats for a 7 p.m. start on Saturday.

Geneva hosts a doubleheader with Oneonta on Friday. The twinbill is part of quadruple-header at McDonough Park with the Olean Oilers and Geneva Twins getting things started at noon.

Paul Gotham is the founder, owner, editor and lead writer at Pickin’ Splinters. Paul is the Communications and Media Director of the New York Collegiate Baseball League. He is a contributor at USA Today and member of the USBWA. You can follow Paul on Twitter @PickinSplinters.