By MIKE DeSANTO
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Cyrus Senior (Canisius College) delivered in the 14th inning with a sacrifice fly out to plate the eventual game-winning run, giving the Syracuse Spartans a 3-2 win over the Rochester Ridgemen in New York Collegiate Baseball League action Saturday night at Basket Road Field.
After the Spartans loaded the bases with singles from seniors Micah Riddick (St. Bonaventure University) and Britton Lawrence (Eastern University), as well as a walk to sophomore Bradley Dietz (SUNY Institute of Technology), Senior stepped to the plate and wasted little time smacking the first pitch into right field, hitting it deep enough to allow Riddick to score from third.
“My approach started when I was waiting to go up to bat because I knew if Brad got on, all I had to do was get [Micah] in,” Senior said. “I said ‘anything will work, anything on the ground, anything in the air will get him in.’ So I said ‘look, I’m going to keep myself simple, don’t try to do too much’ and it helped us win.”
Redshirt freshman Zach Soder (Belmont Abbey College) threw the final four innings for the Spartans, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out five, keeping his team in the game.
The left-handed Soder initially held the Ridgemen hitless through the first three innings of his appearance, while keeping them scoreless over all four.
“I like to get on the mound, work [quickly] and get our offense rolling a little bit,” Soder said. “I was getting ahead early, fastballs early and then my curveball was really good, so keeping them off-balance.”
The two teams exchanged runs in the first inning, scoring one a piece to open the game.
The Spartans began in the top half of the first, starting with a one-out walk to senior Jack Paulson (University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh). Paulson did not have to wait long to come around and score, as the next batter was junior Chris Schad (Cazenovia College). Schad worked a 1-1 count and then doubled to left field, bringing in Paulson as the game’s first run.
The Ridgemen responded in the bottom half, tying the game with a run of their own. Sophomore Sean Rooney (Point Loma Nazarene University) singled to reach first and moved to second when senior Casey Claflin (Shawnee State University) drew a walk. A sacrifice groundout moved the two runners to second and third with one out, bringing up senior Ethan Luna (Southwestern University). Luna jumped on the opportunity in front of him, knocking the first pitch into left field to score Rooney and tie the game.
Both teams stayed scoreless, until the Spartans finally broke the tie in the sixth. Schad led off the inning by working a full-count and tripling to left field, putting the ball just over the left fielder’s head. Junior Edison Mercado (Johnson & Wales University) then grounded out to Rooney at second base, giving Schad the chance to score.
The Spartans took the 2-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth looking to secure the win, but the Ridgemen had different plans.
Luna got the Ridgemen going in the ninth with a leadoff double into the right-centerfield gap, giving way to sophomore Josh Stella (Hillsdale College) as a pinch runner. After a strikeout marked the first out of the inning, freshman Jonathan Sabino (Coppin State University) entered as a pinch hitter and Stella moved to third on a wild pitch. Sabino took advantage of the situation, slapping the ball to second and brining the throw to first base, creating an opening for Stella to score the game-tying run for the Ridgemen.
“I was looking to just drive something up the middle of the field or elevate something, so looking for something high or something low that I could really drive to the middle of the field,” Sabino said. “He was working me outside a lot, so I was making sure I didn’t roll over, just take that pitch where it takes me.”
However, Senior would provide his sacrifice fly out in the top of the 14th and Soder locked down the bottom half to give the Spartans the win.
The Spartans’ head coach James Williamson said his team did good work staying in the game throughout the night.
“They just competed. They did a good job being resilient and we had a really good job out of our bullpen,” Williamson said. “Soder, who finished the game, really locked it down and gave us a shot to win. We just talked about that adjustment we have to make in order to be competitive at the end of the season in order to compete for a summer league championship.”
Ridgemen head coach Justin Dillard said the team’s ability to stay in the game no matter what is a testament to the players.
“I like the fight I saw in them tonight,” Dillard said. “They competed, really want to win a ballgame, and the whole bench is ready. That was a whole team affair, so I’m proud of them and that’s something to build on, for sure.”
Sophomore Kevin Mackintosh (Lamar Community College) pitched the last five innings in relief for the Ridgemen, surrendering one run on four hits and two walks.
Mackintosh, a left-hander, also record five strikeouts over those five innings, including two in both the 12th and 13th innings.
The Ridgemen fell to 5-18 on the season while the Spartans improved to 11-9 and maintained a spot in the playoffs.
The Ridgemen will next play Sunday at 5 p.m. when they welcome the Hornell Dodgers back to Basket Road Field.
The Spartans’ next game will be Sunday at 6:35 p.m., as they will travel to Rome to take on the Generals.
Leave a Reply