By MIKE DeSANTO
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Junior Connor Dunn (University of Puget Sound) provided a two-run single in the bottom of the second, giving the Rochester Ridgemen a lead they did not relinquish in a 7-4 win over the Sherrill Silversmiths in New York Collegiate Baseball League action Sunday evening at Basket Road Field.
Leading up to the base hit, sophomore Seth Hagan (Centre College) singled to second to reach first, moving to second on a wild pitch. Freshman Trevor Cho (St. Cloud State University) then walked, with both runners advancing a base thanks to a groundout. Then, with two outs, Dunn struck the ball into centerfield, plating Hagan and Cho.
“Just staying up the middle with the fastball,” Dunn said. ‘Battling with two strikes and trying to put a ball in play.”
The Ridgemen succeeded throughout the game capitalizing on “free passes” including five walks and an error.
“A big thing you preach is throw strikes, play defense and get timely hitting,” Ridgemen assistant coach Mitchell Holland said. “You don’t always need a lot of hits, you need timely hits, and I thought we did. That’s what kind of wins ballgames.”
After Dunn’s single put them ahead, the Ridgemen added two runs in the third. Senior Casey Claflin (Shawnee State University) reached on an error by the shortstop, going to second on a walk to junior Joshua Parks (University of Chicago) and third on a wild pitch, putting Parks on second. Claflin was cut down at the plate on a fielder’s choice for senior Ethan Luna (Southwestern University), but Parks stayed on second. Sophomore Andrew Bayard (Westmont College) then singled to center, loading the bases. Cho and Sabino worked back-to-back walks with two outs, bringing in Parks and Luna, respectively.
Sophomore Sean Rooney (Point Loma Nazarene University) led off the sixth inning with an infield single to shortstop. A groundout to second advanced Rooney to second, allowing him to come home on a single to left field. Luna then came in when Bayard tripled to right-center.
In the seventh inning, the Silversmiths got three runs back, cutting the lead in half. Freshman Justin Stromski (Southern New Hampshire University) worked a walk and sophomore Nate Goodman (Hamilton College) singled to third to get the Silversmiths going. Sophomore Joshua Goldstein (Southern New Hampshire University) was then hit by a pitch to load the bases for junior Tully Allen (Ava Maria University), who dispensed a single to left and drove in Goodman and Goldstein following Stromski scoring on a passed ball.
The teams traded runs between the eighth and ninth innings. Luna doubled to center in the eighth, setting himself up to score on a single to center for Bayard.
Three straight singles, one each to left, right and center, for freshman Vincent Timpanelli (St. Thomas Aquinas College), Goodman and Goldstein loaded the bases for the Silversmiths in the ninth. A walk allowed Timpanelli to score, but that is as far as the comeback would go as the Ridgemen secured the victory.
Holland said the team put together a good game and fixed early mistakes to stay in the lead.
“I think they did a really good job competing for nine innings,” Holland said. “We jumped out to an early lead and got out to 6-0, I felt we kind of sat back at times in the sixth and seventh inning. They put a good two-out rally together and scored three. Part of baseball is you play nine, so I thought today we went out and won a baseball game.”
Silversmiths’ coach Matt Horn said his team was flat-out outplayed by the Ridgemen.
“The other team was better. They executed pretty well, they swung the bat, the pitcher did pretty well,” Horn said. “We did pretty well at the end. We just ran out of room.”
Sophomore Josh Stella (Hillsdale College) started for the Ridgemen, going seven innings and giving up three runs on four hits and four walks with four strikeouts.
“Started off a little shaky, I just didn’t have my control,” Stella said. “Guys were making plays behind me, settled in there and then just started getting stronger as we went. A lot of run support today, which was awesome.”
The Ridgemen improved to 8-22 this season while the Silversmiths fell to 16-14.
The Ridgemen will play the Hornell Dodgers on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the final home game of the regular season.
The Silversmiths will next face the Cortland Crush on Monday at 5 p.m.
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