By SPENCER BATES
SALAMANCA — From a “gutsy” effort on the mound to laying down bunts, the Salamanca baseball team executed on just about everything it needed to in order to grab an opening day win over Otto-Eldred.
For its first game of the season, the Warriors showed little sign of rust with a consistent level of production at the plate and on the mound.
“Obviously I wanted the win, but I told these guys, even if we didn’t get the win, I was loving the way they were playing,” Salamanca coach Greg Herrick said. “Since I’ve been here, it’s certainly the best we’ve played in an opening day game. We really started to focus on a lot of the little things, playing a little more small ball, execution, base running aspects of the game, and I thought the guys, for it being early in the season with limited reps, really executed well.”
And it all started on the mound for Salamanca.
After losing ace Jaxson Ross to graduation last year, the biggest question mark for the Warriors ahead of the new campaign was on the mound. And while it may be a by-committee effort this season, opening day starter Cory Holleran did what he needed to do, striking out six batters through 4.2 innings. He did give up four runs — two of which came right before he was replaced by Jacob Herrick — but ultimately, Greg Herrick could not have been more pleased with Holleran’s effort considering his change in role this season.
“It was big for Cory to come out and do that, because he’s been a reliever with a limited pitch count the last couple years,” Greg Herrick said. “I just asked him to have a different mentality this year. He’s a senior, he’s usually the toughest kid on the field, no matter if it’s basketball, football, and I just asked him to take that gritty attitude to the mound and I thought he did that. … You’re not going to always have an ace like Jaxson Ross. So, we’re going to do it by committee this year and that’s a great start.”
On the flip side, Salamanca’s offense shined on the day as well, recording at least a hit in all but one inning at the plate and scoring at least twice in all but two innings. And while Holleran and Jacob Herrick carried the torch on the mound for the Warriors, the charge at the plate was led by two more returners to the program in Payton Bradley (hit, run, RBI) and Kruz Coustenis (two hits, two runs, RBI).
“We have a really solid core, I wish we had more, we’ve lost a lot of seniors over the last two years, so it’s still an inexperienced team, but the leaders are so good, I think everybody’s just falling in line behind them and quickly learning the right way to play the game,” Greg Herrick said. “Kruz has been an underrated player in our program for a while, Jake and Cory and Payton have devoted a lot of time to the game of baseball and have always shown leadership (qualities). The guys have just fallen in line behind the leaders of our team, and tonight they were ready to go.”
Salamanca’s Cory Holleran (1) delivers a pitch against Otto-Eldred. Holleran recorded six strikeouts in 4.2 innings for the Warriors. (Spencer Bates)
As for Otto-Eldred, there is still some rust that needs to be shaken off, as admitted by coach Lance Baker. But that is to be expected with a very young team.
“There’s definitely some things we were rusty on, some things we haven’t gone over yet,” Baker said. “There’s definitely some plays we should have made, which I think could have been a big difference in the game. We got down by two twice, tied it up both times. … We did some good things, but definitely could have done some things better.”
And while there were understandable growing pains just about everywhere for the Terrors, at the plate there were some positive signs. Hunter App (two hits, run, two RBIs) and Davey Schenfield (two hits, run, RBI) highlighted a decent offensive output.
“I thought we put the ball in play pretty well,” Baker said. “I don’t think we struck out that many times, which is good. I think it’s an improvement from the past couple years. … (Salamanca) put the ball in the outfield more than we did, they put the ball in the green stuff more than we did. We hit a lot of balls at people that were not hard-hit, but I was pleased with the way we made contact and things like that.”
For Greg Herrick, it was exactly the start to the season he would have wanted. But with as good of a start as they had, he is wary of complacency, and made sure to warn his players of exactly that ahead of what is set to be a taxing season.
“Hopefully they don’t get complacent, because it’s going to be a long season,” Greg Herrick said. “I told these guys, when we get into league play, there’s really good teams, experienced teams, and they’re going to challenge us. We’re going to have our moments this year. … It was just a good early-season game. I thought both teams limited the mistakes, and I’ll take it as a starting point.”
Up next for Salamanca is a home game against Ellicottville on March 29 at 12 p.m.
