Pickin' Splinters

Rochester's Independent Sports Source

Big fourth inning carries Churchville-Chili past Irondequoit

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By PAUL GOTHAM

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Irondequoit Baseball christened its new scoreboard in honor of longtime coach and Section V Hall-of-Fame member, Ken Slater.

Visiting Churchville-Chili, though, got the better of the runs on Tuesday afternoon.

Parker Farnham and Lucas Karelus highlighted a six-run fourth inning as the Saints sent 10 to the plate on the way to an 11-7 victory in Monroe County Division II action.

“We just got back from Florida,” first-year head coach Bob Rule said referring to the team’s recent Spring Break trip. “Down there, we weren’t hitting the ball the last couple of games. To finally start stringing it together was really good.”

Farnham’s one-out triple scored Aaron Reina from first with the go-ahead run. Karelus brought in Braedon Reina and Josh Campbell with a two-out double for a 5-1 C-C lead. The Saints took advantage of errors to push across two more in the frame.

Senior right-hander Michael Sardou picked up the win with two strike outs in three innings of work.

“He’s been a bulldog on the mound,” Rule said of the Monroe Community College commit. “He has become the hands-down leader of this team. He just pitched a great performance on Thursday in Orlando (5.2 innings against Shawnee High School/New Jersey). He was fighting a little bit of a cold out there today. To see him battle through it was great. He gave us what he had. We got the lead for him, so we could put in some new arms.”

Sardou and Braedon Reina connected on back-to-back RBI doubles in the fifth when the Saints extended the lead to 11-4. Reina finished 2-for-2 with two walks and three runs scored. Farnham was 2-for-4 with a run scored. Josh Campbell singled, walked twice, drove in a run and scored two more. Karelus was 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Bobby Rule walked twice and scored a run.

Churchville-Chili improved to 4-2 on the season.

“The defense was good today,” Rule said of his squad which played without an error. “Pitching-wise, we’re building our staff. We’re fighting some injuries on the pitching staff, right now. We’re getting some other guys some work. It was good to have a nice lead and get those guys in.”

Irondequoit sophomore infielder Max Spitz cleared the bases with a double in the bottom of the fourth to make it a 7-4 game. Colby Mroczek drove in a run with a single and Alex Kozak added another with a double in the fifth when the Eagles (2-2) loaded the bases.

Carraig Jones singled, walked twice and scored two runs. The senior right-hander started and struck out four over 3.1 innings.

Jack Bayerl doubled. Landon Bryan singled and drove in a run. Alex McLaughlin singled, walked twice and scored a run.

The game was called after five innings due to darkness.

Slater, a member of the first Section V Baseball Hall-of-Fame class, was a four-year varsity performer for Irondequoit in the early 1950s. He continued his career at Ithaca College before signing with and playing six years in the New York Yankees organization. Slater then returned to Irondequoit where he coached for 33 years.

Ken Slater, a member of the first Section V Baseball Hall-of-Fame class, was a four-year varsity performer for Irondequoit in the early 1950s. He continued his career at Ithaca College before signing with and playing six years in the New York Yankees organization. Slater then returned to Irondequoit where he coached for 33 years. (Photo provided)

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