By ANTHONY SCOTT
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Syracuse Junior Chiefs came into Sunday night needing a win over the Cortland Crush to stay within striking distance of the division leaders. They put the ball in the hands of one of their most reliable pitchers.
Matthew Sandoval (Purdue Univ Calumet) was spectacular for his home J-Chiefs. On a gloomy day at Onondaga Community College Sandoval was shining bright. The senior was striking out Crush batters left and right as he cruised to eight solid innings as the J-Chiefs downed Cortland, 6-1.
“(Steve) Zimmerman called a great game today behind the plate.” Sandoval said, “I was focusing a lot on my off speed throughout the week, and I brought it out to the mound today.”
The off speed helped him strike out eight batters allowing just five hits and one run. Sandoval is now tied for the league lead in strikeouts with 46.
However Cortland thought they were going to have a field day with the Syracuse starter as they were able to jump on him early. In the first Cortland, took a 1-0 lead when freshman TJ Wegmann (Binghamton U) delivered a two out RBI single. Little did Cortland know that would be all they could muster up against the Junior Chiefs.
The Syracuse bats decided to wake up in the third inning for coach Joe Antonio. After the Junior Chiefs worked a pair of walks, leadoff hitter Anthony Seminaris (Mt. San Antonio Col.) was up to the dish. He launched a double scoring both runners and giving the Chiefs a 2-1 lead. The Junior Chiefs tacked on two more in the inning by the time it was Chris Ruiz’s (St. Thomas Aquinas) turn to bat. Ruiz delivered a two out RBI double to cap off the five-run third inning for the home team. The J-Chiefs were in control 5-1.
“We were more patient in the fifth inning,” Antonio said, “If we can become more consistent as hitters, no one can touch us.”
Seminaris knocked a two-out triple in the fourth. The extra base was critical as he scored on the next batter via a wild pitch for a 6-1 cushion.
Seminaris was easily the Chiefs most effective catalyst going 2-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored.
The six runs was more than enough for Sandoval as he exited after 111 pitches.
Syracuse reliever Kevin Soriano (Saint Peters) did not give the Crush any chance in the ninth. Soriano retired Cortland in order in the final frame picking up two strikeouts on the way. The senior has been solid his last three outings from the pen, as he has 13 strikeouts in his last six innings pitched while only allowing one run over that span.
The 6-1 victory for the Junior Chiefs pulls them within three games of Cortland for first place in the Eastern Division. The top two teams will face off against each other just one more time this season.
“It’s always good to get a win when we are playing the Crush. ” coach Antonio said, “We got time to close on them for first place.”
“I feel like the Junior Chief pitcher did a great job of keeping us off balance all night,” Cortland hitting coach John Buczek said. “It was one big inning that kind of did us in.”
The Syracuse Junior Chiefs look to keep their winning streak going as they take on the Syracuse Salt Cats at 7:00 P.M. on Monday.
The Crush will have game four of their seven-day road trip on Tuesday when they take on the Sherrill Silversmiths at 5:00 P.M.
Leave a Reply