By ANTHONY SCOTT
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Thanks to a seven spot in the eighth inning the Syracuse Salt Cats were able to defeat the Syracuse Junior Chiefs 8-3 in New York Collegiate Baseball League action at Onondaga Community College, Saturday night.
The Salt Cats and Junior Chiefs were in action against each other for the third time in four nights on Saturday. The season series was tied at one a piece heading into the matchup.
With the Salt Cats already up 1-0 the Junior Chiefs utilized the sacrifice as they were able to move runners along very effectively to scratch across the first two runs of the game. Webb Little (Ithaca College) got an RBI single in the third inning for the Chiefs first run, as he went on to go 3-for-5 in the game.
“We executed nicely playing small ball,” Jr. Chiefs coach Joe Antonio said. “We have to, playing in a ballpark like this.”
Alex Meyers (Concordia College) had an exceptional outing for the Junior Chiefs. Meyers was in control of the Salt Cat hitters for most of the night. He finished his day with six innings pitched, four hits allowed, and only one earned one. However, his solid performance would be wasted by the Chiefs.
The Chiefs extended their lead to 3-1 after Tyler Patane (St. Thomas Aquinas) tripled to score Conner Lafferty (Desales Univ) in the seventh.
Then in the top of the eighth inning the wheels fell off for Antonio’s Chiefs. In the inning, the Salt Cats brought 11 men to the plate which resulted in a seven-run inning. The big hit that really got the ball rolling was a two-run single by Justin Clarke (Lesley Univ) that tied the game.
Clarke came in as a pinch hitter and ended up having a big impact on the game.
“With the count 2-2 I was expecting the curveball,” he said. “Gave it an inside out swing and was able to plate a few runs.”
“It was just a matter of time before the solid connections and the quality at bats came around.” Salt Cat manager Mike Martinez said about his team’s outburst in the eighth
After the barrage of runs in the eighth inning for the Salt Cats, manager Mike Martinez brought in Matthew Colon (James Madison) to finish the job and put a stamp on a 8-3 victory for the Salt Cats.
Martinez believes that Colon could be, “one of the best closers in this league.”
The Salt Cats are now off to an impressive 5-2 start, while the Junior Chiefs fall to .500 and are now at 5-5.
Both teams will be back at it again on Sunday as they finish up the three-game weekend series at Onondaga Community College. A 7 p.m. first pitch is slated.
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