By ANTHONY SCOTT
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Alex Meyers (Concordia) tossed 7.1 innings, and the Syracuse Junior Chiefs defeated the Cortland Crush 4-2 in New York Collegiate Baseball League action, Thursday night at Onondaga Community College.
Meyers finished his night allowing two runs to score, but none were earned. The Junior Chief starter tallied eight strikeouts while only walking three on the way to his first victory of the season.
“I did my homework on these guys and knew what they could hit.” Meyers said, “I just attacked them with what I was confident in.”
However it was not smooth sailing from the jump for Meyers. He was in a jam in the very first inning as the Crush had men on first and second with one out and were hungry to strike first. Meyers was able to keep his cool and got two monumental strikeouts to the Crush’s four and five hitters to escape from the inning.
“Just staying calm and composed, and knowing that I’ve gotten out of these situations before.” Meyers said is what helped him get through his early troubles.
Those early inning strikeouts seemed to charge the Junior Chief offense. In the bottom of the first Syracuse first baseman Joe DeLuca (Col. of St. Rose) got the scoring started with an RBI single through the left side of the infield. Syracuse led 1-0 after the first.
The Cortland Crush put runners on first and second and were trying to push the envelope to tie up the ballgame. The double steal was on and Greg Mula (Samford) was able to swipe third. Syracuse tried to catch Mula stealing, but the throw skipped past the Syracuse third baseman and allowed Mula to cross home at tie the game at one a piece.
Syracuse’s bats did not cool off in the second inning. Chris Ruiz (St. Thomas Aquinas) started the inning off with a single. Trevor Thompson (Ithaca) then executed on a sacrifice bunt, to move the runner to second. John Militano (Salve Regina) was next as he pressed the turbo button and beat out an infield single. The big blow came from Webb Little (Ithaca) who laced a ball to left field. The Cortland left fielder misplayed it and the ball flew over his head and rolled to the wall for a 2 RBI triple, and gave the Junior Chiefs a 3-1 lead.
“I just tried to put the ball in the outfield.” Little said, “I got a pitch over the middle of the plate and just hit it hard.” Little finished the day going two-for-four with two RBIs, a walk, and a stolen base.
Meyers got into a little jam in the third inning as their were runners on the corners with only one away. The runner on first took off for second and Syracuse tried to catch him stealing, but the throw sailed high and Derek Martin (Southeastern Univ.) scurried home from third. Meyers showed great maturity on the mound and came back to strike out the final two batters to limit the damage, and keep the Junior Chief lead at 3-2.
The home team was threatening once again in the bottom of the third inning. Syracuse shortstop Thompson was executing the little things again. He was able to lift a ball out to left field and score the runner on third for a sacrifice fly. Although Thompson was zero-for-two at the dish he had two sacrifices that helped Syracuse manufacture a couple runs.
“I’m really just looking for a ball up in the zone to drive into the outfield.” Thompson said is his approach when he’s in a position for a sacrifice.
After the third Meyers put it on cruise control as he was mowing down Cortland hitters left and right. The righty out of Edwardsville Illinois sent down eleven consecutive Crush hitters. Meyers was finally relieved by Joseph Ditorrice (Manhattan) with one out in the eighth.
The Junior Chief closer was all business as usual. He started his performance off by striking out the first batter he faced. Then he got out of the eighth by picking off the runner on second. Syracuse manager Joe Antonio sent Ditorrice back on the mound for the ninth and his closer shined. The Manhattan sophomore struck out the first two batters in the ninth, then got the final batter to pop out to shortstop to end the game.
“I was just using my fastball and was able to get my curveball over which really helped.” Ditorrice said after his perfect inning and two thirds.
The Chiefs improve to 17-10 and are now just two games behind the Cortland Crush for the division lead.
“Against Cortland we needed to step up our intensity,” Antonio said, “We can’t give away games we gotta go after every team, we gotta get better each day.”
The Junior Chiefs will look to answer their coach’s requests as they travel to take on the Sherrill Silversmiths on Friday at 5:00 P.M.
The Crush’s next game will also be on Friday, but they will be at home and will welcome in the Rome Generals for a 3:00 P.M start.
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