By MIKAEL DeSANTO
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Devin Cerrato (Covenant College) went 3-for-5 with four runs batted in and a run scored in the Rochester Ridgemen’s 9-7 season finale win over the Cortland Crush in New York Collegiate Baseball League action Saturday night at Basket Road Field.
“It was great, everyone came out here with a lot of energy, it was a lot of fun,” Cerrato said. “We didn’t want to go out in a body bag, we wanted to go out bright, and we did that for sure.”
Justin Dillard, the head coach of the Ridgemen, said while the win does matter, it is the relationship of the players that matters most.
“Win, lose or draw, that was the last time these guys were on a field together,” Dillard said. “So they went out, they played with joy and passion, they built each other up, they went out the right way.”
Cerrato also was the starting pitcher for the Ridgemen, making his first start, and the Crush countered with Andrew Cartier (Rowan University), who made his fifth start of the year. Cartier threw five innings, giving up four runs (three unearned) on seven hits and two walks while striking out seven.
“I just wanted to get ahead, throw a lot of strikes,” Cartier said. “The first inning I definitely did not do a good job of that, they scored a few runs off me, but I started to settle down and let my defense work behind me, and that’s where I found some success.”
Cerrato also pitched five innings, surrendering seven runs (four earned) on nine hits and five walks, with one strikeout.
“I’m not really a pitcher, I’ve pitched more this summer than I have in my whole life,” Cerrato said. “I just wanted to get on the mound, throw some strikes, make them put balls in play, see what happens; they scored some runs off me, but it was all right.”
The Ridgemen jumped out to a lead early, scoring three runs in the first inning. Brooks Pitaniello (Harding University) and Joe Done (Northwestern College) both singled, setting up an error at first base on a hard hit ball by Hayden Houts (Northern State University) to allow Pitaniello to score. Danny Molinari (De Anza College) then doubled to score Done and Houts, giving them a 3-0 lead.
“I went up there with nothing on my mind, at all,” Molinari said. “The first pitch he threw me was a ball, then the next pitch I looked like an idiot swinging through a changeup, I just waited back, (he) gave me that fastball inside, just turned on it, got the head out and luckily to crush it all the way to the wall.”
The Crush came back to tie the game in the top of the second inning. TJ Wegmann (Binghamton University) walked and Andrew Taft (State University of New York at Buffalo) singled, both advancing on the sacrifice bunt by Evan Moore (Shippensburg University). They then loaded the bases when Patrick Messinger (Maryville College), allowing Wegmann to score on a fielder’s choice for Joey Assenza (Nichols College) and Taft to score on an error on the play, with Messinger being tagged out. Assenza came around to score on a double for Clayton Jeffries (Lenoir-Rhyne University).
“I was just trying to get my pitch and as soon as I found it, I decided to drive in a run,” Jeffries said. “The pitchers were doing good out there, (I was) just looking for what I could handle.”
The teams traded runs in the fourth inning to keep the game tied. Messinger opened the Crush half by singling, stealing second and then advancing to third on a Jeffries single. He scored on a fielder’s choice groundball by Greg Mula (Samford University), with Jeffries being thrown out at second. In the Ridgemen half, Hunter Bingham (Azuza Pacific University) singled and advanced to second on an error in right field, and moved up to third when Cerrato singled. Pitaniello then singled home Bingham, tying the game again.
“I was just trying to hit a ball hard, get a good pitch to hit and help the team win,” Pitaniello said. “He threw me a ball out over the plate, I hit it hard on the barrel and it found a hole.”
The Crush were able to take a 7-4 lead in the fifth, scoring three runs. Ethan Moore (Lock Haven University) singled to reach base and Wegmann reached base on an error by the third baseman, allowing Ethan Moore to reach third. They then loaded the bases when Taft drew a walk, and Evan Moore singled to score his brother Ethan, Messinger singled to plate Wegmann and a fielder’s choice groundball by Assenza scored Taft, before outs at second and home ended the inning.
“The whole thing is just staying back on the fastball,” Evan Moore said. “They’re not going to overpower you with something up in the 90’s, so if you just stay back, keep your hands back and trust you can just flip the ball into right field, you can get an RBI out of it.”
However, the Ridgemen did not go away, scoring three runs in the sixth to tie the game and two in the seventh to take the lead. In the sixth, Connor Brown (Ohio Wesleyan University) and Jade Doyle (Ancilla College) walked, setting up a two-run double by Cerrato, who made it to third on the throw to the plate. A wild pitch plated Cerrato during the next at bat.
“I was looking for a pitch over the plate,” Cerrato said. “He left one there, he had been struggling throwing balls, so I knew he was going to give me one down the middle, so I just sat back on it and try to drive it the other way.”
In the seventh, Bingham single and Jared Piper (Hillsdale College) pinch ran for him, but was thrown out on a fielder’s choice by Brown. Doyle then worked another walk, with both he and Brown moving up on a wild pitch. This set up for Cerrato to come through again with another two run double to plate the final two runs of the game.
“He was throwing from down low, but it was kind of just coming right in there,” Cerrato said. “I was, again, looking for a pitch down the middle and he gave me one, and I took advantage of it.”
Bill McConnell, the field manager for the Crush, said the team did not do what it should in certain facets of the game, but focused on three in particular.
“The team performance was not up-to-par,” McConnell said. “We didn’t execute well in three areas: we gave up three runs with two walks in the sixth inning with pitching, didn’t execute on our suicide squeeze, which is usually good, and then we steal a base with no signal on.”
Dillard spoke after the game about the impact of his teams season off the field, despite the struggles on it.
“I would say it was off the field stuff, and also baseball,” Dillard said. “Honestly, with our record (12-34) being what it was, it almost had to be for these guys to love each other the way they did, instead of pointing fingers and blame each other for failure, they lifted each other up, they seriously strived to see ‘what does it look like to live like Jesus as a baseball player’ and I’m proud of them for it.”
The Crush finished the regular season with a 29-17 record, and earned the top seed and a spot in the Eastern Division Championship Series.
Doyle and Luke Chevalier (Northern State University) pitched the last four innings for the Ridgemen, giving up no runs, two hits, no walks and four strikeouts.
Tommy Hyland (Nichols College), Tom Taplin (State University of New York at Buffalo) and Dylan Leahy (Keystone College) threw the last three innings for the Crush, with Hyland and Taplin surrendering five runs on three hits and four walks, with one strikeout, while Leahy pitched a scoreless and hitless inning.
The Crush will take on the winner of the Eastern Division Playoff between the Syracuse Junior Chiefs and Syracuse Salt Cats. The EDCS starts Wednesday, July 27.
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