By SPENCER BATES
OLEAN — As if the prospect of pulling out a result over a red-hot Dunkirk squad was not enough, the Olean baseball team had a literal storm to brave whilst doing so.
Throughout the majority of the matchup between the Huskies and Marauders, rain fell in buckets, heavily enough at one point to put a temporary pause to the game. And while the sides were able to retake the field and finish out the affair under stadium lights, the slick surfaces of the turf and baseballs led to greater challenges and mistakes that, while not entirely plentiful, made an impact on the final scoreline.
Olean was able to hang with the current CCAA Div. I leaders in Dunkirk for a large portion of the game, taking the initial lead and remaining tied through four innings of play.
However, a five-run fifth inning for the visitors made all the difference as the Huskies were unable to fully formulate a comeback, falling 8-6 when all was said and done.
Still, Olean coach Les DeGolier noted that seeing his squad hang with a team the caliber of the Marauders was a victory in and of itself.
“The first thing that I told them was, ‘that’s one of the better teams in the league, if not the best team in the league, and we just hung with them,’” DeGolier said. “It would have been easy to fade into the night when we went down (7-2), and instead, we roared right back. … I was proud of the fight there. Overall, we made a couple mistakes on the basepaths, swinging the bat — we went down looking with runners in scoring position a few times too many — and I think that those little mistakes are magnified in tight games against big teams.”
On the mound, walks were abundant thanks to the rain, and both sides found strikeouts hard to come by. Both the Huskies and Marauders struck out just 10 batters apiece with the former walking 14 and the latter walking nine over the course of the contest. And it was the walks that DeGolier — who noted free bases has been a big talking point for him this season — pointed out made a significant difference as Dunkirk scored all eight of its runs on just four hits.
“I thought Austin (Miles) battled really well, he had to deal with the bulk of the rain in those first four innings, so all things considered, keeping their score where it was when he left the game, I thought he did a heck of a job,” DeGolier said. “And then, in those middle innings, we just had a few too many walks there. I thought that Landon (Johnson) ultimately settled in, especially in his second and third innings there, he cruised right through, and that was really good to see. We just have to limit those walks. It’s something that we’ve been talking about all year, limiting walks and not giving them free baserunners.”
Olean’s Joe Mest (8) swings at a pitch against Dunkirk. (Spencer Bates)
But luckily for the Huskies, their mistakes were relatively limited to offense and pitching as its defense was able to produce a one-error game through the downpour. All the more reason, DeGolier said, for his pitchers to not worry about painting the corners and, instead, just finding the strike zone, especially when the weather is unfavorable.
“Our defense has been our strength all year … so that’s what we’re going to hang our hat on,” DeGolier said. “And that’s why it’s all the more important for pitchers to throw strikes, because they got a heck of a defense behind them that’s ready to make plays. We played a pretty good defensive game tonight, considering the rain.”
As for his team’s offense, DeGolier has been impressed with the improvement he has seen over recent weeks, and he believes another step in the right direction was made against Dunkirk. After starting their CCAA Div. I season 0-2, DeGolier noted he needed to see more aggression and less defense at the plate. An emphasis that has come with results as the Huskies won their next two league games, and while they fell to the Marauders, they nearly doubled their opponents’ number of hits.
“I think we’re going up there with an approach in mind, based on the situation, a lot better,” DeGolier said. “We can’t let the moments get too big for us and I think some of those at-bats where we were a little frozen for strike three, I think that might be the case. (We just have to) stay cool and put the ball in play for the team.”
Now Olean won’t have much time to dwell on the loss as it is set to make a trip up to Springville on May 7 for a non-league affair starting at 5 p.m. And, in fact, it won’t have much time to allow much of any of their future results to impact them negatively too much as the team heads into a packed portion of their schedule.
“We have to be able to wash those mistakes and move on,” DeGolier said. “Instead of being defensive, staying in that attack mode, pedal to the metal. I think that this team’s learning to do that. Hopefully, as we get through the deeper parts of the season, we can hit our stride going into the playoffs.”
AT OLEAN
R H E
Dunkirk 011 051 0 8 4 2
Olean 110 031 0 6 7 1
Dunk: Orcutt (9 SO, 5 BB), Cosme (1 SO, 4 BB), Lemanski (0 SO, 0 BB) and Valentine
OL: Miles (6 SO, 7 BB), Myers (0 SO, 4 BB), Johnson (4 SO, 3 BB) and DeGolier
