By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Friday’s rain prevented Le Roy from playing Saturday’s Class B first round game at the friendly confines.
Instead, the Oatkan Knights made Greece Olympia their home for the day.
The change in venue didn’t affect the approach on the diamond.
Peter Clark came home with the winning run in the sixth inning as No. 7 Le Roy erased an early deficit to defeat No. 10 Waterloo, 3-2.
“It came down to some stuff we practice all the time,” said Le Roy head coach Ieon Koukides. “We had to play small ball and get in scoring position. It’s something that our kids work really hard at. They didn’t blink an eye, and they did it. I was really proud of that.”
With the game knotted at two, Clark worked a base on balls to lead the sixth. Luke Lathan put his teammate in position to score with a sacrifice bunt.
“Luke had hit the ball really well twice in a row to center field,” Koukides said. “I told him you’re going to come through with something. It was just a perfect storm situation.
“He puts it down. It ends up making a difference. It’s pressure. I know what it’s like when we’re on defense, and someone does it to us. It’s put a lot of pressure on. It paid off.”
Jake Higgins followed with a single through the left side of the infield. When an error was committed in the outfield, Clark, who had advanced to third with the hit, scampered home.
“We got fortunate on a nice roll and just a misplayed ball in the outfield to get that run in,” Koukides said.
Did Clark moving from second to third create enough of a distraction?
“For that reason, the bunt works,” Koukides said. “That’s the important part. With him on second, now it’s a matter of you got to scoop and throw. A little different than relaxing and getting the ball in.”
Alex Spezzano took over on the mound from his brother, Jackson, and hurled three and a third scoreless innings to pick up the win. The junior right-hander retired nine of the 11 batters faced and did not allow a ball out of the infield. He struck out four and walked two.
“It’s not a sigh of relief when he gets up there, but I know he’s going to keep us in the game,” Koukides said of the younger brother. “I knew with those guys on the mound, they’d keep us in this game.”
Trailing 2-0, Austin Bogue led the third with a single down the right field line. Andrew Strollo moved the runner with a sacrifice bunt of his own. Alex Spezzano walked, and a wild pitch put runners in scoring position. Adam Woodworth and Jackson Spezzano followed with back-to-back RBI singles.
“Great job on these guys. They stuck with it. The boys have played a lot of baseball. This group has played a lot of baseball. They feed off each other.”
Jackson Spezzano had two hits in the game.
Le Roy (15-5) will play No. 2 Notre Dame-Batavia in the Class B quarterfinals.
“We’ve been hitting the ball well all year and doing the little things. It’s a good time to be peaking and playing well.”
The grounds crew showed up at 6:30 AM to try and get Le Roy’s field ready.
“We worked all the way until 12:30 (PM) when we had to make the call as far as if we were going to try to play at home or if going to secure this field (Greece Olympia),” Koukides said. “Obviously, we wanted to play at home. We got be the home team here, and we got to play at a great facility. They opened the doors for us. We thank them for that because we were both able to play on a nice day. Got some sunshine and a great field.”
Dylan Caraballo doubled and scored on a Jayden Mansell base hit to give Waterloo (8-11) a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Cameron Jacobs singled and came home on Aidan Acquilano’s base hit for a 2-0 Tiger lead in the second.
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