By SPENCER BATES
HOUGHTON — While the Salamanca Lizards may officially have been knocked out of the New York Collegiate Baseball League (NYCBL) postseason race, “quit” is not a word in the franchise’s vernacular.
Scoring a 7-1 win, the Lizards played spoiler to the NYCBL West Division-leading Genesee Rapids who were looking to inch one step closer to clinching the division’s No. 1 seed.
In the six games Salamanca has played against Genesee this season, it was 0-6 and had been outscored by a 36-15 margin. So, entering their final home game of the regular season, the Rapids would have liked their chances to claim a season sweep.
But the Lizards had other plans.
In the top of the very first inning, Salamanca’s leadoff man Frank Kula (1-for-4, 2 runs, 2 walks) set the tone for the afternoon with a 14-pitch at-bat that resulted in a walk. The visitors then nearly batted through the entire order by taking advantage of Genesee mistakes.
Still, the Lizards were only able to score once in the top of the first, despite loading the bases, with Kula being brought across the plate via an RBI from Matt Smith (1-for-5, RBI) on a Rapids error.
And while the hosts did manage to tie the game back up in the third, numerous defensive miscues left the door wide open for Salamanca.
Through six frames, the Lizards had recorded a total of five hits, but counting errors and fielder’s choice outs, they saw 12 connections lead to runners getting on base. When all was said and done, the Rapids combined for seven errors in the field, a trend, Lizards head coach Jerico Weitzel noted, his side had no intention of disrupting.
“I think that’s part of us putting some pressure on them with putting balls in play,” Weitzel said. “We’ve talked before about not striking out, putting those balls in play, having good at-bats, and hitting the ball with some velocity. It kind of puts pressure on other teams. I thought we did a good job of grinding at bats today.”
The Lizards broke the tie in the fifth inning with Gabe Roth (1-for-4, 2 runs, RBI, 2 walks) scoring on an RBI single from Harley Hoag (2-for-4, 2 RBI, walk). They doubled their buffer in the next inning with a run from Parker Drees (1-for-4, 2 runs, walk) on a Roth RBI.
But still, as dominant as Salamanca had been through seven innings of play, their lead was just 3-1. An advantage not insurmountable for one of the best teams, according to record, in the league.
Adding four more runs in the top of the eighth would make any comeback a bit more difficult though.
Through a combination of hits, errors and walks, the Lizards surged ahead to a 7-1 lead. Kula and Drees each scored their second runs of the day on a Connor Smith (1-for-5, RBI, run) two-RBI single and it was not long before he would come around to score, reaching home after Roth tallied his second run on a sacrifice fly from Hunter White (0-for-3, RBI).
Genesee’s defensive woes had put them behind the eight-ball from the start. But what made finding a route back into the game ultimately impossible was the extraordinary outing Salamanca got from starting pitcher Dylan Novak (3 SO, 1 BB). Through eight innings of work, Novak conceded just three hits to the Rapids, just one hit more than their season-low tally.
“(Dylan) threw awesome, he attacked early, made a little adjustment in the pitch calling from his previous couple starts … and I thought it paid a big, big dividend,” Weitzel said. “I thought he threw the ball extremely well. He was hitting the strike zone, keeping his pitch count down, giving us eight really quality innings. That was an awesome performance for him.”
His efforts, combined with a shutout ninth inning from relief pitcher Nate Tyler (1 SO, 0 BB), emphatically solidified victory for Salamanca.
The win was big for the Lizards for a number of reasons. Their offense, which has struggled with consistency over the course of the season, was relentless. Their defense was near-perfect, with just one error going against them. And its pitching was spectacular. But above all, the win was important to the franchise because it showed that they are not one to roll over and accept defeat, even if their chances at the playoffs have been wiped away.
“(We talked) after the game or Friday night about how the effort was kind of lacking, I thought they seemed a little bit checked out,” Weitzel said. “(We told them), ‘You got four or five games left, let’s make them count. Each one gets you a little bit better.’ … Today, it was good just to see them come out and have a good BP, have a good pregame, have good at-bats, throw the ball well, field the ball well. … Obviously, we didn’t do what we wanted to as a team success-wise, but that doesn’t mean we can’t use these last few games to play well and improve.”
Salamanca will return home for a doubleheader against the Watertown Rapids for their next game on July 21. First pitch for game one is currently set for 2 p.m.
AT HOUGHTON
Salamanca 100 011 040 R:7 H:8 E:1
Genesee 001 000 000 R:1 H:3 E:7
Sala: Novak (3 SO, 1 BB), Tyler (1 SO, 0 BB) and Lasko
Gene: Bowman (5 SO, 3 BB), Williams (1 SO, 2 BB), Alexander (1 SO, 1 BB), Alm (1 SO, 2 BB) and Guzman
