By ANTHONY SCOTT
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Austin Bizzle (Alabama State) had his way with the Syracuse Junior Chiefs hitters Saturday afternoon, as he helped his Olean Oilers to a 6-0 victory in New York Collegiate Baseball League action.
Bizzle pitched a one-hitter on his way to a complete game shutout victory.
“I was just throwing strikes and attacking the zone.” Bizzle said, “I just let the defense work behind me, which they did, and it worked out well.”
“It was great to see Austin get back to his old self.” Olean coach Bobby Bell said, “He was using more than one pitch for strikes, and was able keep hitters really off balance.”
The lone Junior Chief hit came in the second inning off the bat of Joe DeLuca (College of St. Rose) as he was able to get a single off of the dominant starter.
The Oilers were able to get on the board in the third inning and break the scoreless tie. David “Bubba” Hollins (St. Petersburg) laced a two-out double, and Samuel Kysor (Lock Haven) came all the way around from first to score the first run of the game. The two-out rally continued as Aaron Phillips (St.Bonaventure) added another double to make the score 2-0 after three innings.
Phillips had a very productive day at the plate, going three-for-five (two of which were doubles) with and RBI and a run scored.
Olean was able to increase their lead and get the Syracuse starter Jimmy Skiff (Purdue Univ. Calumet) out of the game in the sixth inning after they scored a run via the pass ball with a runner on third. Olean was sitting pretty with a 3-0 lead and their starter still rolling.
“I didn’t have my best stuff from the get go, and just had to find different ways to get guys out” Skiff said, “I trusted my fielders, pitched to contact, and my fielders made a lot of great plays for me.”
After a few walks by the Syracuse bullpen it was Kysor’s turn to do some damage for the road team. The junior out of Port Allegany, PA delivered a single with the bases loaded to extend the Olean lead to 5-0.
Kysor was seeing the ball well as he finished with the two RBI going two-for-three while working out three walks on the night, and scoring one run.
The Oilers added a sixth run in the final frame to bring the score to 6-0.
Then their starter, Bizzle, put the finishing touches on a special day, sending Syracuse down in order in the ninth giving his team a 6-0 victory.
Bizzle had a complete day of work, going the distance allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out two.
“We gotta stay locked in and keep to our approach.” Bell said, “They don’t give out trophies halfway through the season. If we want to have a chance to do something great at the end of the summer we got to keep doing what we are doing right now.”
The loss snapped a Junior Chiefs mini two-game streak.
“We can’t win baseball games if we are chasing pitches,” Jr. Chiefs coach Joe Antonio said. “They were disciplined with the stick and we were not disciplined with the stick.”
Syracuse looks to get back on the right side of the scoreboard as they travel to take on the Genesee Rapids on Sunday. First pitch is set for 2:00 P.M.
Olean will seek to improve upon their league leading 28-3 record on Sunday as they host the Wellsville Nitros at 7:00 P.M.
Leave a Reply