By ANTHONY SCOTT
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Sherrill Silversmiths were amped up from the get go against the Syracuse Junior Chiefs. In the first inning Silversmith players were cheering louder and louder with every ball Ryan Coulon (St Thomas Aquinas) fought off as he was in an early battle with Junior Chief starter Alex Meyers (Concordia). After a nine pitch at bat Coulon delivered a two-out two-run single, and his teammates exploded with excitement as Sherrill took a 2-0 lead and never looked back.
The Sherrill Silversmiths went on to beat the Syracuse Junior Chiefs 8-2 in New York Collegiate Baseball League action at Onondaga Community College, Friday.
Coulon made his presence felt again in the third inning. WIth two outs and Skylar Mercado (South Carolina Aiken) on third because of his leadoff triple, Coulon was able to dig one out and get an RBI infield single. This gave the Silversmiths a 3-0 lead.
Syracuse began their attempt at a comeback in the fourth inning. Tristan Dacey (Salve regina) led off the bottom half of the fourth with a walk. Sam Little (Ithaca) executed coach Joe Antonio’s plan as he moved Dacey over with a sacrifice bunt. Sam’s brother Webb Little (Ithaca) was able to plate Dacey with a rope to left-center field and Little wound up on second with a standing double.
Meyers was pulled from the game after the Silversmiths led off the fifth inning with back to back singles. Joe Antonio decided to go with Jacob Binder (Fairfield) from the bullpen. Binder walked the first man he faced then Coulon came up to the dish with the bases loaded. Coulon broke the game open with a 2 RBI single to right field to give Sherrill a commanding 5-1 lead.
Coulon finished with a game high six RBI.
“I’m seeing the ball a lot better,” Coulon said. “I felt good up there.”
“Coulon has been our guy all year,” Silversmiths coach Jim Hegmann said. “We trust that in the four, five hole he won’t try to do too much.”
The Silversmiths added another run in the top of the sixth to make it 6-1.
In the bottom half of the frame, The Junior Chiefs were able to plate a run when Sam Little tripled to right field and scored Nick Roy (Nichols College) from first.
Heading into the bottom of the seventh, Antonio tried rallying his troops by giving them a pep talk, but it was to no avail. Drew Marion (Polk State) struck out the Junior Chief three-hitter with two outs and the bases full to hold the Chiefs scoreless in the seventh. Marino finished his day with five strikeouts, four walks, and two runs allowed over seven innings of work.
“I started him off with two fast balls,” Marino explained. “Then he fouled a couple more off, the count got to 2-2 and I had to drop a curveball.”
Newcomer Deaven Philips (Ave Maria) saw his first action as a Junior Chief on Friday. After a scoreless seventh, the Silversmiths added a couple insurance run and spoiled Phillips’ debut. Phillips allowed two runs in an inning and a third. The Silversmiths held a commanding 8-2 lead.
The Silversmiths sent in Andrew Varaaksa (Lackawanaa) to close the door. Varaaksa tossed two innings allowing four walks, but zero runs crossed the pentagon as the Silversmiths won the contest 8 to 2.
The Chiefs were hot coming off an 8-7 victory over the division leading Cortland Crush.
“This game can humble you very quickly,” Antonio noted. “We just came out and played complacent.”
Silversmith coach Jim Hegmann could not be more pleased with his guys.
“I think I have one of the most loose groups in the league,” Hegmann noted. “Offensively they all know they can swing it. I honestly believe this team can be very dangerous.”
The Silversmiths have now won two straight and head home to welcome the Rome Generals on Sunday at 5:00 P.M.
For the Junior Chiefs they take their 9-7 record and will welcome in the Wellsville Nitros for a game scheduled at 7:00 P.M on Saturday.
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