By PAUL GOTHAM
WALWORTH, N.Y. — Andrew Gleason figured he needed to lend his head coach a helping hand.
One inning after the go-ahead run was thrown out at the plate, Gleason scampered home with the game winner as host Gananda defeated North Rose-Wolcott, 4-3 in Wayne County League action, Thursday.
“It felt really good to get that,” Gleason said after the win.
With the game knotted at three, Gleason worked a one-out walk. The senior moved to second on an AJ Fiorvanti ground ball to the right side of the infield and stole third base to set up the walk-off win.
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“When I’m on third, I love to mess with the pitcher a little bit, try to fake a jump,” he said. “Coach whispered in my ear, ‘if he picks over, go.’ Had to go home, no turning back. I saw him go back with the ball. No hesitation.”
The win was the third in four games for the Blue Panthers (8-6) and came one day after falling to Bishop Kearney/Archangel.
NR-W/Red Creek (11-3) took the first meeting between the two teams, 2-0.
“Yesterday we laid an egg,” head coach Bill McClare said. “Today we were checked in. We can’t take anybody lightly.”
Gananda started the scoring. Henry Shutts led the first inning with a single. Luke Ciprich and Gleason worked one-out walks. Both Shutts and Ciprich came home on the same wild pitch.
Aiden Giancursio walked and scored in the fourth for a 3-0 Gananda lead. The game stayed that way until NR-W/Red Creek scored three runs in the sixth.
Logan Caves walked and came home on Alan Anthony’s RBI groundout for the Cougars first run. Kaden Milliman and Nolan Sears came home later in the inning to tie the game.
It looked like Gananda had the response in the home half. Peyton Connor walked and stole second before Jack Frick connected on a two-out single through the left side of the infield.
Connor, going on contact, got a good jump and rounded third.
“I probably shouldn’t have sent him,” McClare admitted. “You know what, you got to make things happen.”
NR-W’s Anthony made a clean pick up on the ball in left and came up firing to Nick Gilbert awaiting at home.
“He threw a strike and the catcher made a nice play,” McClare said. “In baseball terms I had Luke (Ciprich) and Andrew (Gleason) coming up. I should have left the runners at second and third and let them have a chance to decide it.”
Gleason made the right play one inning later.
“He doesn’t mess up too much,” Gleason said smiling. “But when he does, you got to bail him out.”
Alan Anthony comes up throwing in left to erase the go-ahead run at the plate. Nicholas Gilbert makes the tag. pic.twitter.com/VGdHWtgJiL
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) May 12, 2022
Ciprich started and breezed through the first five innings before running into trouble in the sixth. The senior right-hander strike out nine while allowing four hits and three runs. He retired 12 of 13 batters heading into the sixth.
Gleason worked a scoreless seventh with a pair of strike outs.
Luke Ciprich works a 1-2-3 third. Righthander has set down 6 straight and 7 of 8. @gtownbsbl 2 @AthleticsNrw 0 pic.twitter.com/tQYm3oL2Vi
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) May 12, 2022
“I knew coming out that I had to really lock in and do my job,” Gleason said. “I couldn’t let him down. After that performance, I couldn’t let him take the L. I just knew going out there to play my game. My fastball felt really good. The off-speed was working too.”
Gananda opened the season with a pair of wins but dropped three of four at one point in late April into early May.
“With the young guys we have, we’ve really worked on our approaches at the plate,” McClare said of his squad that consists of five ninth-graders and two eight-graders. “We weren’t putting the ball in play early in the season. We were striking out a ton. I just changed the approach. We’re hunting fastballs and we’ve worked on two-strike approaches to get the ball in play.
“We’re not going to be a doubles and triples and home run team. Luke (Ciprich) and Andrew (Gleason) maybe. We’re so young that we need to put the ball in play and make the other team do something. Good things can happen.”
Frick went 2-for-4 for Gananda.
Kaden Milliman escapes a two-on, no-out jam with a pair of strike outs. pic.twitter.com/T6B8Mkj55H
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) May 12, 2022
NR-W’s Anthony was 2-for-3. Gilbert and Michael Sherman added a single apiece for the Cougars. Milliman started and struck out 10 over four innings of work.
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