By CAMERON BOON
WEBSTER, N.Y. — Rochester head coach Joe Shallenberger has been known to let pitchers go a little longer than some fans (or bullpens) might like. On Friday night, Mitchell Donahue (Toccoa Falls) went all nine innings, throwing a season-high 137 pitches in a 5-2 Ridgemen victory over the Wellsville Nitros in New York Collegiate Baseball League action Friday night at Basket Road Field.
Donahue threw his second complete game of the season, his first being a seven-inning win against the Nitros in his first start of 2015.
“I just put it up there and let my defense work,” Donahue said.
After facing nine batters in the first two innings, the LaGrange, Georgia native set down 21 of the final 27 batters he faced.
Wellsville got on the board in the second, turning a leadoff single by Max Franzone (Finger Lakes CC) into a one-run advantage. Franzone advanced to second on a wild pitch, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Chris Collins (Hamilton), and scored on Ryan Bonafede’s (Hilbert) sacrifice fly to right.
Franzone was the only Nitro to record multiple hits, going 2-for-3 on the night.
While Donahue started cold and finished hot, StigErik McElhinney (Nichols) set down the first 11 batters he faced and then ran into a load of trouble in the fourth and fifth innings.
“Once you go through a lineup, [the batter] makes the adjustments and we made them the second time through the lineup,” Rochester head coach Joe Shallenberger said.
After Shane Soria (Westmont) and Ryan O’Hearn (Hillsdale) were set down to begin the fourth, Colin Winn (Santa Ana) broke up the perfect-game bid with an infield single that bounced over McElhinney’s head.
A pair of walks to Devan O’Bryan (St. Louis CC Meramec) and Michael DiViesti (Butler) brought Alex Stack (U of Dallas) to the plate with the bases loaded, but he was robbed in center field by Kenneth Collins (Hamilton), one of many great defensive plays made by both outfields in the game.
Armando Valentin (Benedict) led off the bottom half of the fifth with a walk and it was all downhill from there for McElhinney. After a pair of beautifully placed bunts by Tage Johnson (Houghton) and Aaron Vallance (Wayland Baptist) loaded the bases, a wild pitch tied the game as Valentin scored.
Soria, who was at the plate at the time of the errant pitch, lofted a fly ball to left field that plated Johnson to make it 2-1 Ridgemen.
After O’Hearn drew a walk, Winn provided the dagger. He laced a two-run double to the game in right center, scoring Vallance and O’Hearn to give Rochester all they would need at 4-1.
“When a pitcher has a good mix, you let the ball get deep on you,” Shallenberger said. “We just started sitting on the fastball and it worked out good for us.”
Winn was the lone Ridgemen with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 and plating a pair of runs, increasing his total to seven on the year.
Donahue then relied on a heavy dose of his backdoor curveball, recording all six of his strikeouts in the final four innings of play to shut the door.
“I use that to my advantage and keep them guessing,” he said.
He did a very effective job of mixing in a slow breaking pitch that in turn makes his fastball look much quicker.
O’Bryan scored on another wild pitch to make it 5-1 in the seventh.
Wellsville attempted to mount a rally in the ninth with Franzone leading off the frame with a triple, but Donahue calmly retired the final three batters to give the Ridgemen their second victory in their last three outings.
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