By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Thomas Finnerty hurled five strong and delivered the eventual game-winning hit as the Greece Arcadia Titans rallied to defeat the Churchville-Chili Saints, 6-2 in Monroe County League action, Wednesday.
Finnerty plated Zach Southcott with a two-out double in the fourth inning, and Arcadia went on to win its second straight.
“I was just trying to look for a good fastball to hit, the senior said. “Just trying to put the bat on the baseball.”
He finished the day 2-for-3 with a sacrifice. On the mound the right-hander struck out six and allowed two hits on the day.
“I didn’t always have my command,” Finnerty said. “The curve was okay. The sidearm fastball I went to a lot today. I was trusting my catcher, Justin Augustine. He’ll block everything for me.”
One inning after committing three errors with two outs, the Titans sent six to the plate and took a lead they did not surrender.
“What I was most proud of is I don’t think we played the best game, but we grinded it out and we stayed the course,” 19th-year coach Chris Ruggieri said. “Good things happened. We battled through some adversity and came back. That’s a true test of a decent baseball team.”
Finnerty, who struggled at times with his control, stranded eight runners.
“He probably could have gotten up in the count a lot better today with first pitch strikes,” Ruggieri noted. “All in all he grinded it out and won a baseball game.
Thomas Finnerty strands a pair with a punch out. Mid 2: @CCCSDathletics 0 @TitanBaseball 0 pic.twitter.com/lPXMnhgWvT
— PBR New York (@PBRNewYork) April 12, 2017
Isaac Yorkey led the Arcadia fourth with a walk. Zach Southcott reached when his sacrifice bunt was mishandled. Drew Southcott moved the runners 90 feet when he dropped a bunt, and Ben Bell tied the game with one of his four hits on the day. After Bell was thrown out trying to move up on the play, Finnerty beat the Saints left fielder to make a 3-2 game.
Kevin Blum capped a three-run sixth as the Titans added some insurance. Blum’s blast deep into the alley in left center scored Finnerty to give Arcadia the final margin.
Blum pitched a pair scoreless innings to seal the win. Taking the mound for the first time since April 23rd of last year, the right-hander struck out two and retired all six batters he faced.
“Just focus up and throw strikes and let my defense do the work,” Blum said. “The Ks will come. Just live low in the zone and get ground balls. That’s all you got to do.”
The right-hander who suffered a bicep tear last season has been rehabbing since. Ruggieri plans to take steps in hopes to have the senior ready for sectionals.
“Two innings here, one inning there then hopefully he’ll be ready to go in May. Today was kind of his coming out party again after a year of rehab. He really did a great job.”
“It felt great,” Blum said. “This was the comeback. It was a feeling like no other. It was amazing.”
Blum, who also logs time at third and short, made a pair of plays on balls in front of the mound to keep Churchville-Chili at bay.
The loss was the second straight for the Saints in which they had a lead and let it slip away. Tuesday, C-C took a 4-1 advantage into the seventh before falling to Hilton, 5-4.
“Just coming up a little short right now,” Churchville-Chili coach Jake Dennstedt said. “Some of the older guys on the other teams are executing a little bit better when the situation has been bigger. Bringing in a four-year senior on the mound that’s big. He makes two plays in the infield on swinging bunts essentially. He made them look easy. That’s the experience of an upperclassman.”
Saints starter, Ethan Putney sparked the third inning with a two-out single up the middle. The sophomore hurler moved to second on an error and scored when Christian Montanez reached on a defensive miscue. Jacob Carroll singled off the third-base bag before the Saints worked a rundown to score a second run. But Churchville left the bases loaded in the fourth.
“That’s what’s kinda hurting us right now,” Dennstedt noted. “We’ve had some chances early in the game, but we didn’t get the hit with runners in scoring position.”
Bell was 4-for-4 with two runs scored for Arcadia.
Blum went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Arcadia improved to 2-1 on the season.
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