By CODY LOVE
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Salt Cats saw an early deficit grow, but chipped away at it late.
An eighth inning 2-RBI triple by Johnny Knight IV (Walsh) completed the comeback as the Syracuse Salt Cats defeated the Oneonta Outlaws 6-5 in New York Collegiate Baseball League action at Onondaga Community College on Friday afternoon.
Adam Thoryk (Alma College) and Julian Bilodeau (Palm Beach Atlantic College) got the inning started offensively with two singles.
Knight then came up in his second at-bat of the game after pinch hitting for Anthony Galanoudis (Molloy).
He ripped the ball to the wall in left field, scoring the tying and winning runs for Syracuse.
“I was just trying to make good contact,” Knight said. “This was a big game for us…we need to keep winning.”
Both teams put a run on the board in the first inning to get things started.
Zack Blonder’s (Maryville) RBI single in the top half was answered by another from Jose “Manny” Colon (Rutgers-Camden) in the bottom half.
The Outlaws got the lead back in the third on a Trevor Putzig (Tennessee Tech) sacrifice fly RBI that scored Zachary Krider (South Carolina Upstate) after he was able to advance to third on two errors.
They then extended that lead with a big fifth inning.
Singles by Krider and Blonder had the Outlaws quickly threatening with no outs.
Jordan “McClain” Bradley then hit a two RBI triple to extend the Outlaws lead to 4-1.
The extra bases paid off as he scored on a groundout by Putzig.
The Salt Cats attempted to respond in the bottom half, as singles by Evan Holland (Florida International), Tim Hunter (Tyler JC) and Matthew Mastroianni (SUNY Oneonta) loaded the bases.
However, after Outlaws starter Mike Adams (UAlbany) allowed Holland to score on a wild pitch, he worked his way out of danger by striking out Brian Bilello (Concordia) and inducing Colon into a flyout to end the inning.
The Salt Cats added two more in the seventh on an RBI double by Mastroianni, and an RBI single by Bilello, which made the score 5-4.
Mike Adams (U of Albany) was pulled in favor of Nate Williams (Western Carolina) after Mastroianni’s hit, but was charged with all runs in that inning, finishing with six and a third innings pitched and four earned runs on seven hits, four walks, and eight strikeouts.
Williams was back on in the eighth when Syracuse completed the comeback, so he was charged with the loss.
Kyle Perez (SUNY Brockport), who held the Outlaws scoreless in the top half of the inning, got the win.
Matthew Colon (Cumberland County College) picked up the save with a perfect ninth.
Mastroianni led the Salt Cats hitting, going 3-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI.
“I got ahead in the count and was looking for fastballs to hit,” Mastroianni said. “I got good pitches to drive and put a good swing on them.”
Bradley was 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored for Oneonta.
Blonder was 2-for-4, picking up an RBI.
Salt Cats starter Charles “Chase” Davis (Northwestern College) is still working back from an early season injury, and he is on a limited pitch count.
He pitched four innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits and four walks, while striking out four.
The Eastern-Division leading Salt Cats (26-13) won their sixth straight, dropping their division clinching magic number to five.
They are facing the second place Cortland Crush (3.5 GB) in a four-game series this weekend that starts in Syracuse at noon on Saturday.
Salt Cats manager Mike Martinez said that the playoff implications of the series do not factor into his gameplan.
“It’s just another game,” Martinez said. “It’s another team with another name on their jersey.”
The Outlaws (17-17) are fighting to snag a playoff spot, but are currently in fifth, on the outside looking in.
Manager Joe Hughes thinks that the return of some of their injured players will go along way towards helping them get in in the end
“We’ve got to play good baseball,” Hughes said. “We’ve got to keep holding on, get good pitching, and get our players back and I think we’ve got a good chance.”
They look to get back on track by starting a four game series against sixth-place Sherrill on Saturday at 7:00 at Damaschke Field.
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