By MIKE DeSANTO
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Rochester Ridgemen and Wellsville Nitros faced off in New York Collegiate Baseball League action Thursday at Basket Road Field, splitting a doubleheader with the Nitros taking game one 5-4 and the Ridgemen claiming game two 13-3.
In game one, freshman Rommy Morel drove in four runs, including himself, for the Nitros in the top of the ninth, helping them come from behind to beat the Ridgemen.
Also helping the Nitros earn the win, junior Joseph Mallory started on the mound, going six-and-one-third innings and gave up three runs on five hits and five walks with five strikeouts.
“First inning, I started off [with] two strikeouts, but the last few batters of the first inning were kind of rough,” Mallory said. “The second inning didn’t go the way I wanted to, but after the second inning I kind of settled down and went through three more.”
The Ridgemen countered with sophomore Josh Stella (Hillsdale College), who tossed seven innings with one run, four hits and two walks allowed, striking out five.
“I felt pretty good. I struggled a little bit early, but settled in nicely, started hitting my spots,” Stella said. “We played spotless defense behind me today. So overall just felt really good and got a lot of soft contact, so that was good to see.”
The Ridgemen offense started the game one’s scoring when freshman Jonathan Sabino (Coppin State University) led off the second inning by drawing a walk, advancing to second on a wild pitch. This allowed sophomore Andrew Bayard (Westmont College) to step up and double home Sabino for the first run of the game. Bayard later came around to score on a single for senior Casey Claflin (Shawnee State University).
The Nitros got one back in the fourth inning when senior Brenden Cuni (Felician College) walked and scored from first on a double for sophomore Kevin Higgins (Suffolk University), cutting the lead to 2-1.
However, the Ridgemen responded with runs in the fifth and eighth innings, taking a 4-1 lead into the ninth. Claflin led off the fifth with a double, heading to third on a sacrifice groundout. Junior Joshua Parks (University of Chicago) followed up with a two-out single to plate Claflin and extend the lead.
In the eighth, the Ridgemen loaded the bases with singles for senior TJ Lanning (Trinity Baptist College) and sophomore Sean Rooney (Point Loma Nazarene University), as well as a walk to Claflin. Senior Christian Bitar (Regis University) added another run with a single, allowing Lanning to score from third.
But, the Nitros were not finished, coming to bat in the top of the ninth. Back-to-back singles for juniors Ryan Kosmynka (Notre Dame College) and Darian Williams (Benedict College), and sophomore Jonathan Carratala (Bloomfield College) being hit by a pitch, loaded the bases. Morel then stepped to the plate and tripled to tie the game. But, as Morel slid into third, the throw got by third base and Morel reached home plate, giving the Nitros the lead.
“I was just thinking about getting a good gapper. The field is turf, so once you get the gapper the ball just keeps going,” Morel said. “[I] got that gapper I needed, was thinking three all the way, when I saw the ball going over the third baseman’s head, it was a nice way for me to score. It was a side-arm pitcher. He kept going up and down, so I just waited for that.”
The runs held up as the game-winner, with the Nitros securing the game one win.
In game two, Parks propelled the Ridgemen to the 10-run win by going 3-for-4 with six RBI off a three-run double in the second and a three-run triple in the sixth.
“I honestly haven’t been swinging it well lately and working with [assistant coach Mitch Holland] in the mornings and Coach in BP, it’s just been let the barrel handle itself,” Parks said. “[I] just tried to stay back, hit the ball the other way, caught a couple barrels and it worked out.”
Junior Connor Dunn (University of Puget Sound) also contributed to the Ridgemen cause with three RBI and four hits; picking up RBI singles in the second, fifth and sixth.
The Ridgemen’s game two starter was freshman Dylan Brister (Cuyahoga Community College). Brister let up three runs on four hits and three walks, fanning six over six-and-two-thirds innings.
“Everything starts from how you warm. I knew that [it was] kind of a heartbreaking loss the first game, so I was like ‘allright, I have to do whatever I can to bring the guys back up,’” Brister said. “Halfway through I realized ‘hey, it’s just a game.’ Win or lose it’s just a game. You’ve got to have fun and just loosen up, and I think that’s when I really started to feel well.”
The Nitros sent junior Tom Saffioti (Felician College), who gave up seven runs on four hits and five walks with two strikeouts in one-and one-third innings, before exiting with a cramp in his right calf.
“The first inning I went out, I was feeling good. Everything was working the way it should have,” Saffioti said. “The second inning, I go back out there and my calf starts cramping up pretty bad. So I couldn’t sit back on my pitches, missing high in the zone at that point, and the they pulled me. My calf was just hurting way too bad to go back out there.”
The Nitros struck first with two runs in the first inning, as junior Christopher Testa (Becker College) and sophomore Dominic Cecere (Mercyhurst College) reached on back-to-back singles. Testa later came around to score on a wild pitch and Cecere scored on a single for Higgins.
However, in the bottom of the second, the Ridgemen broke the game open with seven runs. Parks, who had walked, moved to second on a single for sophomore Brooks Pitaniello (Harding University) and to third on a sacrifice groundout, scored on one of Dunn’s singles.
A passed ball plated Pitaniello, which the Ridgemen followed up by loading the bases on walks for Rooney and Claflin. With the bases loaded, Bitar singled to score Dunn and Bayard drew a walk to bring in Rooney.
Finally, Parks returned to the plate and drove a double into the outfield to empty the bases, finishing the second inning scoring.
Dunn’s single in the fifth scored Pitaniello, but Parks delivered his second blow of the game in the sixth. In another bases-loaded situation, Parks tripled home Claflin (walk), Bayard (single) and sophomore Seth Hagan (Centre College) (single), extending the lead to 11-2.
Dunn added another RBI single before the end of the sixth to plate Parks.
The two teams traded runs between the seventh and eighth innings. The Nitros run came in the seventh when sophomore Max Larimore (Marymount University) drew a bases-loaded walk.
But the Ridgemen got the run back in the eighth, again with the bases loaded, with Bayard hitting a sacrifice groundout to first, scoring Dunn.
The Ridgemen were able to lock down the ninth, securing the team’s first home win of the season.
Ridgemen head coach Justin Dillard said the team’s success in both games stemmed from strong pitching.
“With an 18-inning affair in the middle of a 42 game season, it’s a marathon of who has the most pitching,” Dillard said. “So today our starters gave us a chance and ate up plenty of innings, which was enough to really win both games.”
The Nitros’ head coach Sam Quinn-Loeb said his team struggled with consistency over the course of the day.
“They competed in the first game. I think we got fortunate at the end to string something together with two outs,” Quinn-Loeb said. “The second game we just didn’t have it pitching-wise. We threw some guys that hadn’t pitched much and Rochester made us pay. So we eat the loss and we move on.”
Sophomore Garrett Gagnon (Ohio Wesleyan University) pitched six-and-two-thirds innings in relief for the Nitros over the two games, surrendering six runs on nine hits and five walks, striking out five.
The Ridgemen move to 4-12, while the Nitros sit at 7-6 after both games.
The Ridgemen will play Friday at home against the Cortland Crush at 7 p.m.
The Nitros next game is set for 7 p.m. Friday in Olean against the Oilers.
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