By MIKAEL DeSANTO
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Ethan Luna (Southwestern University) went 2-for-3 with two runs batted in and a run scored to help the Rochester Ridgemen to a 6-5 win over the Genesee Rapids in New York Collegiate Baseball League action Friday night at Basket Road Field.
“It was awesome, even from the beginning we were just battling, competing,” Luna said. “That’s not something we’ve done all year and it was a lot of fun to see, even at the end of the season when we go home in three days, it would be easy to just kind of roll over and give up, especially after getting blown out last time by them.”
Justin Dillard, the Ridgemen head coach, said the win was anchored by the pitching performance by the teams starter and it belonged to him.
“Joe Dougherty (Grace College) came in today and decided he wanted to win a baseball game,” Dillard said. “He set an attitude of being competitive and guys jumped on, put pressure on the other team and we won because of it.”
Opposite Dougherty was Bo Gilligan (Rowan University), who made his ninth start of the season. Gilligan threw six innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out three.
“I approach everything the same way, that I try to go for the win, always, try to do my best,” Gilligan said. “The team has to look at one person, and the pitcher is the one with the ball, so you have to show them ‘hey, I have to lead you guys’ and at first we had a couple plays, and I was getting us out, but I started getting tired throughout the game, gave up a couple runs that shouldn’t have happened, a couple bad pitches.”
Dougherty, who was making his fourth start of the year, threw eight innings, surrendering five runs on eight hits and five walks, and struck out three.
“We’ve had a pretty tough season, so from the get go when I got here I and first stepped on the field, I was ready to go,” Dougherty said. “I felt like I could have filled the zone a little better early on, I fell behind some hitters; there’s always room for improvement, no matter what.”
After two-and-a-half innings of scoreless baseball, the Ridgemen broke through in the bottom of the third inning, going on to score a run in three straight innings. In the third, Casey Claflin (University of Northeastern Ohio) and Devin Cerrato (Covenant College) walked to get runners on, and after a double steal, a sacrifice fly out from Luna drove Cerrato in.
“Whenever there’s a runner on third I’m really just looking for anything that I can hit far and deep,” Luna said. “I got a curveball and I was able to get just deep enough, especially with the wind, got to be able to put a ball in play with two strikes, especially with a runner on third and less than two outs.”
The fourth inning opened with a double from Matt Jackson (Reinhardt College), who then moved to third on a single by Matt Fischer (Mid America Nazarene University). Hunter Bingham (Azuza Pacific University) followed with an RBI ground out.
The Ridgemen extended their lead to 3-0 in the fifth after Luna doubled, advanced to third on a ground out by Joe Done (Skagit Valley College) and scored on a two out single by Jackson.
“We had a guy on base and their lefty (Gilligan) was getting really high on pitch count,” Jackson said. “I knew he was probably going to try to throw something over the plate, try to get ahead in the count, and he did that, I jumped on it, I hit it good and the guy scored.”
However, the Rapids responded by scoring two runs in the top of the sixth, cutting the lead to 3-2. Judah Wollenburg (University of Rio Grande) reached on a fielder’s choice, but Daniel Lockwood (St. Edwards University), who had walked the at bat before, was thrown out at second. But Grant Myers (Monmouth College) made up for that singling and moving Wollenburg to third. Wes Brown (William Carey University) delivered a two-run double but was thrown out attempting to reach third.
“I was just looking for a good pitch to hit,” Brown said. “He started me off with a breaker and I knew probably a fastball was coming up next, andI was able to put a good swing on it.”
The Ridgemen didn’t waste much time getting runs back, scoring two in the seventh to extend their lead to 5-2.
Brooks Pitaniello (Harding University) was able to get all the way to third to open the inning following an error in right field, and scored on another sacrifice fly out by Luna. Done followed with a single, stealing second, and Jackson walked, but was thrown out at second when Fischer grounded into a fielder’s choice. Done was then able to score from third on a single by Bingham.
“It was a 2-0 count and I knew he was coming with that inside fastball,” Bingham said. “I took one of the biggest swings I’ve ever taken in my life, ended up hitting off the end a little bit, but it fell in, it found some green out there and we scored the run, which ended up being huge for us.”
But the Rapids came back and tied the game at five in the eighth. Lockwood, Wollenburg and Myers led off the inning with three straight singles to load the bases, setting up a two-run single by Brown, plating Lockwood and Wollenburg. After Brown stole second base, Allen Murphy (St. John Fisher College) hit a sacrifice groundout to score Myers.
“I wanted jump on something early because I knew he had pretty good command throughout the entire game,” Brown said. “I was able to put a good swing on that one as well, and it all worked out well.”
The back and forth continued in the bottom of the inning, as the Ridgemen took the lead once again. Cerrato started the inning by reaching first on an error by the shortstop, then getting to second on a stolen base. Pitaniello then advanced Cerrato to third on a groundout, putting him in position to score on a wild pitch during the next at bat, which ended up being the winning run.
JT Thomas, the Rapids’ head coach, said the drive and desire to win was not present for his team, and that’s what allowed them to be beaten.
“It was disappointing and embarrassing, we just didn’t show up today, we never got off the bus,” Thomas said. “We played down in the dumps, for whatever reason, we had no energy, no passion, it was like we were at a funeral service. I don’t want to say embarrassing completely because they played baseball, they gave effort, I’m not denying anybody’s effort, but the passion, the energy, the focus wasn’t there.”
The win improves the Rochester’s record to 11-34, while the Rapids drop to 17-27. Both teams have been eliminated from playoff contention.
Carson Ferry (Northland College) pitched a scoreless and hitless ninth inning for the Ridgemen, striking out the side to earn the save.
Lucas Cornell (Houghton College) and Brenton LaRose (Sacred Heart University) combined to pitch the final two innings for the Rapids, giving up three runs on two hits and two walks while striking out two.
The Ridgemen will finish their season at Basket Road Field on July 23 against the Cortland Crush at 7 p.m.
The Rapids will also play July 23 at 7 p.m. against the Wellsville Nitros at Kerr-Pegula Athletic Complex.
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