By NATE DISCAVAGE
SHERRILL, N.Y. — After Wednesday’s game, nobody would have guessed that the Cortland Crush and Sherrill Silversmiths are ranked last in team batting average in the Eastern Division of the New York Collegiate Baseball League. The two teams have combined to .223; however, they tallied 14 runs on 17 hits in last night’s slug-fest as Cortland hung on to win 8-6.
The Crush were the first on the scoreboard as Alexander Loberger (Northland College) reached on an error to drive in a run before scoring on an RBI-single by William Haaland (Trinity University) in the top of the third.
After Cortland added another run in the top of the fourth, the Silversmiths broke through in the bottom of the inning. Mitch Sloan (Ft. Scott Community College) and Jake Dyer (Ft. Scott Community College) hit back-to-back singles to lead off the frame followed by a Connor Bowie (Mt. Aloysius College) walk to load the bases. Kevin Jordan (Pamona-Pitzer College) stepped up with one-out and drove in Sloan on fielder’s choice to make it 3-1, Cortland.
Nicholas Panissidi (Neumann College) found himself at the plate with runners on second and third and two outs for Cortland in the top of the fifth. He responded driving a two-run single to give the Crush a comfortable 5-1 cushion.
Gaining even further momentum in the bottom of the inning, Cortland turned one of baseball’s rarest feats: the triple play. Following back-to-back lead-off walks, Jake Pendred (Ft. Scott Community College) flew out to center field. Grant Hoover (Shippensburg University) made the catch and fired the ball back into the infield where both runners had left the bag early for the 8-4-3 triple play.
After Cortland pushed their lead to 6-3 with a sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth, Sherrill responded with two runs of their own. After the first two batters were sent down, the Silversmiths loaded the bases. Jordan proceeded to hit a ground-rule double, driving in his second and third RBIs of the night and cutting the Crush’s lead to three runs.
Cortland’s offense, however, could not be contained. The Crush scored for the fifth straight inning in the seventh when Panissidi hit a two-run home run to make it an 8-3 game.
Despite trailing by five runs with only nine outs remaining, Sherrill continued to rally in the bottom of the seventh. After Sloan hit a sacrifice fly, Dyer hit a two-run home run to make it 8-6. They left runners at the corners to end the inning and could push anymore across the plate.
Tyler Saundry (Niagara University) came on for the Crush in the eighth and earned the six-out save. In his two innings, he only allowed one hit while striking out two as Cortland improved to 18-14, good enough for second place in the East.
Casey Hershfield (Pamona-Pitzer College) suffered the loss. He allowed six runs (none of them earned) in six innings. Hershielf walked and struck out four in the game.
Yale Hughes (West Liberty University) earned this second win for Cortland. In five and one-third innings, he limited the Silversmiths to just one run on three hits and sent four down via strike out.
Panissidi led all batters going 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBI.
Dyer finished the night 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBI.
The Crush will travel to Syracuse for a match-up with the JR Chiefs (18-15) in a battle for second place.
Sherrill (7-23) will remain at home to host the division-leading Syracuse Salt Cats (19-12).
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