By PAUL GOTHAM
GENEVA, N.Y. — What a difference a day can make.
Twenty-fours after expressing concern for his team’s sense of complacency, Geneva Red Wings manager Ryan Kassab had reason for hope.
Vince Apicella (Carson-Newman) and Brandon Humbertson (Salisbury) tossed zeroes as Geneva swept Oneonta (9-2/1-0) in New York Collegiate Baseball League action at McDonough Park.
Originally slated to start on Saturday, Humbertson struck out seven, walked one and scattered three hits over a scheduled seven-inning affair.
“He came down with a fever last night,” Kassab explained. “He was maybe going to throw tomorrow. We figured maybe he might get a little sick through the night. He said he was going to go out there and grind, and he did.”
The right-hander retired the first eight he faced until Tyler Martis (Siena) reached on a bunt single.
“First pitch strikes,” Humbertson said of his approach. “Getting that ball across is huge. Then you can throw your off-speed if you want. Just getting the batters on their toes, having them guess.”
The Walkersville, Maryland native allowed just one runner past first for the night.
“It didn’t look like too much of a grind for him,” Kassab noted. “I know he was struggling a little bit with fever and not feeling well. It’s all heart with that kid.”
When Oneonta finally advanced a runner to second, Geneva’s gloves took charge.
Tyler Bruno (Iona) slapped a one-out single to center in the sixth. He moved to second on a weak ground ball to shortstop before Tommy O’Hara (Tufts) went to the ground at third base for a diving stop and throw across the infield for the final out of the inning.
“It really pumps me up seeing a guy laying out for a ball,” Humbertson said. “It’s huge. I believe it gave the team momentum see Tommy just full out going for a ball.”
Geneva carried that into the home half of the inning.
Zach Wingate (Birmingham Southern Coll) started the stanza with a single to left, and, as is often the case in baseball, O’Hara came to the plate after making the key defensive play in the previous half inning. He drilled an 0-2 pitch into left center.
“I looked over at coach,” O’Hara recalled. “He told me to swing away. First pitch curveball. Fooled me a little bit. Pulled it down the line. He (Oneonta starter Luke Samson/Lake County JC) left a ball up. I was able to drive it.”
With runners on the corners, Alex Rodriguez (Methodist) delivered the eventual game winner on a sacrifice fly to center.
“Approaches were much better tonight,” Kassab said of his hitters. “We were laying off the pitches we couldn’t hit and going after the right pitches to hit. We were executing.”
With the sweep, Geneva (15-10) inched within a half game of the first-place Syracuse Salt Cats. The Red Wings also grabbed a three and a half-game edge over the fifth-place Outlaws (10-12).
“It’s huge,” Humbertson said of the sweep. “It gets us some momentum in July.”
Apicella allowed just two hits over seven shutout innings in game one. He took over in the second inning of a game suspended earlier in the season.
“I’ve been just sticking with my pitches that have been working,” Apicella said. “It’s mostly been my off-speed and just keeping hitters uncomfortable up at the plate.”
The southpaw worked out of a two-on, nobody out jam in the fourth getting three of his eight punch outs on the night.
“He actually came to me last night and asked who’s throwing tomorrow,” Kassab said. “Hadn’t fully decided on it. Didn’t want to burn him out too much and he said ‘give me the ball.’ When a guy like Apicella tells you to give him the ball, he wants the ball, you give it to him. You let him do his job which he did.”
Apicella leads the league with 51 strikeouts and an ERA of 0.23 in 38 innings of work.
Unlike Humbertson, Apicella received plenty of run support.
Nick Meo (Ithaca) paced a 12-hit Geneva attack. The rightfielder collected two hits with a walk in the nine-inning game. He scored twice and drove in one. Meo’s sacrifice bunt in the third gave Geneva a three-run cushion.
“You can relax a little more on the mound knowing that you have that run support behind you especially with the defense we have,” Apicella said. “It’s fantastic.”
Lucas Zilli (Michigan State) reached on a walk to start the third. AJ Compton (Elmhurst) singled to left center, and Meo followed with a bunt to the first base side of the pitcher’s mound. When the throw sailed into foul territory down the right field line, Zilli and Compton came around to score.
Meo reached base in all eight trips he made to the plate during the doubleheader. He finished 4-for-4 with two walks, a hit by pitch and the sacrifice which resulted in him getting aboard on an error. The right fielder had two doubles.
“He came to me in the office today and talked to me about what he’s got to do to improve,” Kassab said of Meo. “He’s a guy who we sat out for a little while to almost make him hungry. He’s that kind of kid. He got a little complacent.
“Had a couple mental blips early in the season. We sat him. We worked with him. Mentally he was there, and he was on point today. He came in and did his job as good and better than you can ask for. It’s incredible to see a guy on base every single time like that.”
Compton finished the night 4-for-7 with three runs scored.
O’Hara added three hits. Rodriguez had a double, triple and two runs scored.
“The bats are looking to heat up,” Kassab said. “We want to heat up into the middle of July. We’re on that track tonight.”
Samson fanned three over 5.1 innings of work.
Jessey Valdez (Dean College) plated Hayden Gerlach (Grand Canyon U) with a two-out pinch hit double in the ninth for Oneonta’s lone run of the night. Geneva led 2-1 after the first when game one was originally suspended.
Oneonta hosts Sherrill on the Fourth of July. A 6 p.m. first pitch is scheduled at Damaschke Field. Geneva travels to Cortland for a 3 pm start at Beaudry Park.
Leave a Reply