By NATE DISCAVAGE
ONEONTA, N.Y. – Despite being a complex sport, baseball can be broken down into three easy categories: hitting, pitching and fielding. Any team that can outperform the other in at least two of those categories usually leaves the field victorious. Such was the case Saturday night in game one of the New York Collegiate Baseball League Championship Series between the Olean Oilers and Oneonta Outlaws, at Damaschke Field.
The Oilers unleashed a superb hitting display at the plate, rode a strong pitching performance from starter Brandon Schlimm (St. Bonaventure University) and made numerous jaw-dropping defensive plays to topple the Outlaws 7-1.
Schlimm pitched seven shut-out innings allowing three scattered hits and striking out four. The 6’3 right-hander earned his second win of the playoffs and lowered his postseason ERA to 0.64.
“I talked to him this morning to make sure he was locked in and ready to go,” Oilers coach Buddy Bell said. “He wanted the ball, so that’s what we went with.”
Across the diamond, Oneonta starter Michael Adams (University of Albany) suffered the loss. Adams allowed six runs (two earned) on 13 hits while walking two and striking out three. He threw 112 pitches, 65 of them for strikes.
Pitching – Check.
At the plate, Olean put up one of the best hitting performances in NYCBL playoff history. Their 17 hits in game one are the most in a Championship Series game in the last five years. Seven of the Oilers’ nine starters recorded multiple hits.
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Among the array of outstanding offensive performances, two Oilers stood out.
Isaac Dillard (Gulf Coast Community College) hit a bases-loaded, two-out, three-run double to left field in the top of the third to break the game open for Olean. Dillard’s double extended the Oilers lead to 4-0 and established the tone early in the game. The 6’3 sophomore out of Florence, Alabama, finished the night 2-for-5 with a double, three RBI, a run scored and a hit-by-pitch.
Evan Ryan (Erie Community College) also had an outstanding night at the plate. Ryan went 3-for-5 with a double, two RBI, a run scored and a hit-by-pitch in the win. Ryan drove in Aaron Phillips (St. Bonaventure University) with an RBI-single in the top of the seventh to add an insurance run for Olean.
“I got one up the middle late in the game when we needed to tack on runs,” Ryan said. “I was just trying to get on and hit something straight.”
Phillips and Cole Peterson (St. Bonaventure University) both had three hits for the Oilers.
Oneonta, on the other hand, managed to scrap a late run on seven hits in the ballgame. Ryan Nelson (Quinnipiac University) was the only Outlaws batter who recorded multiple hits in the game as he finished 2-for-4.
Hitting – Check
While Oneonta may not have recorded as many hits as Olean, the game could have been a lot closer had it not been for the Oilers spectacular defensive play.
After falling behind 4-0 in the third inning, Oneonta’s Tyler Martis (Siena College) lined a bullet to third base, however Bubba Hollins (St. Petersburg College) was there to rob Martis of a hit. Two batters later, Outlaws slugger Jordan Bradley (Wofford College) ripped a fly ball deep to the spacious Oneonta center field, but Dillard gave every ounce of his energy to run it down and save an RBI-triple with a Willie Mays-style catch.
Throughout the game, Peterson constantly showed off his strong arm turning close calls into definite outs.
Oneonta committed two errors on the night, the first of which cost the team four unearned runs. With the bases loaded an two outs, Peterson smashed a groundball right at Martis, however, an odd hop sent the ball off of his glove and over to the edge of the infield as Olean tallied their first run. Dillard stepped up and hit his bases-clearing double.
Fielding – Check
Although Oneonta’s offensive was not as explosive as the first two rounds of the playoffs where they averaged over eight runs per game, they still managed to hit the ball hard.
“We hit a lot of balls just right at people, especially early in the game when it’s still close,” Oneonta manager Joe Hughes said. “We will come out ready to play tomorrow and hopefully things work out a little better for us.”
Despite needing only one win over the next two nights, Olean is conscious of the Outlaws ability and will not let the 1-0 get to their heads.
“They are going to come out and battle,” Peterson said. “We took it to them tonight, but we are ready for them to come back after us tomorrow.”
Game two is scheduled for 7:00 Sunday night at Bradner Stadium.
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