By MIKE DeSANTO
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Devin Cerrato (Covenant College) delivered Saturday night going 2-for-5 including the game-winning RBI, and the Rochester Ridgemen defeated the Wellsville Nitros, 4-3 in New York Collegiate Baseball action at Basket Road Field.
“We had a lot of energy and we always felt like we were going to come out on top,” Cerrato said.
Head coach Justin Dillard (Dallas Baptist) said he felt proud of how the team performed and their will to win when the game got tough.
“I’m loving the way they competed at the end,” Dillard said. “To see a little fire in them, and them stepping up and them getting it done when they needed to get it done.”
Carson Ferry (Northland College), who picked up the save in the team’s season and home opener last Tuesday, took the hill for the Ridgemen as the starter while Sam Rice (Ashland University) was on the bump for the Nitros. Both starters found trouble early, with Ferry missing high in the zone with many of his pitches and Rice finding it difficult to agree on a game plan with his catcher, Jacob Sims (Roane State Community College).
Ferry said he had trouble with the execution of his fastball, which is his most dominant pitch and the one he threw most often during the game.
“I just needed to really finish it,” Ferry said. “I was having kind of a tough time finishing it today.”
Rice said that unfamiliarity with Sims led to the issues on the mound, forcing him to step off the mound several times and visits by Sims to the mound.
“I haven’t thrown to him before,” Rice said. “So it’s just something that happens between pitcher and catcher.
The Ridgemen opened up the scoring in the third inning with an Ethan Luna (Southwestern University) double, allowing Matt Jackson (Reinhardt College) to score from second. They would add two more runs after Cerrato reached third, and scored on a passed ball, and Brooks Pitaniello (Harding University) doubled home a run, making it 3-0.
However, the Nitros struck back in the fifth after Ferry walked the bases loaded, three of the team’s nine walks, and tie the game with three runs on a Nicolas Varda (Ashland University) double, a Tyler Culpepper (Rome State Community College) walk and a run off a fielder’s choice.
“I tried to get on base, be a great teammate, be a lead off guy,” Culpepper said of his two walks. “As a team, I feel like we did a great job, as a whole.”
Jason Cronin, the head coach of the Nitros, said that his team’s discipline was mixed at times, being solid at some points and lacking at others.
“I think that there were certain situations where the guys did a good job of laying off pitches,” Cronin said. “I also thought we chased some pitches that were balls, that with a little better plate discipline we would continue to have more walks and more opportunities.”
The teams went back and forth throughout the next few innings, each having opportunities to take the lead, but it would come down to the bottom the ninth inning to decide the game. With two outs and no one on, the Ridgemen mounted a rally, starting with a Joe Done (Skagit Valley College) single, followed by a walk to Hayden Houts (Northern State). That brought up Cerrato with a chance to drive in the winning run.
“I was just looking for a fastball, he was a power fastball thrower so I wanted to find one in the zone,” Cerrato said. “I fouled two off and then he threw me a curveball in the dirt, so I knew he was going to come back fastball, and he left it over the plate and I got a good swing on it.”
That good swing drove the ball over the head of Nitros second baseman Cam Cook (Nichols College), allowing Done to score and secure a Ridgemen victory.
Jacob Lentz (Highland Community College), who made his season debut after recovering from a back injury, went 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored.
Sims drew three of the Nitros walks at the plate and scored once.
Ean Walda (Grand Rapids Community College) threw five innings for the Ridgemen, surrendering one hit, walking two and striking out four.
Patrick Berthelette (Marymount University) tossed two innings for the Nitros, giving up two hits, walking two and striking out three.
Kevin Kirley (Nichols College) finished the game for the Nitros, throwing one and two-thirds innings while giving up two hits and the winning run.
The Nitros will next play June 6 in an away game against the Hornell Dodgers at 7p.m.
Rochester’s next game will be June 5 at home against the Olean Oilers at 5 p.m.
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