By SPENCER BATES
OLEAN — It was a tough day at the office for the Olean Oilers, who suffered defeat to a Batavia Muckdogs side that pulled out all the stops.
It was as clean of a performance a team could ask for, as Batavia — 11-1 winners on the day — compounded an effective outing from its pitching staff with a strong display from its offense.
Gavin Chandler got the start for the Muckdogs and from the word go he was just about unhittable.
He gave the visitors seven full frames and conceded just three base knocks and one run in that time.
Garrett Beaver and Eric Woodly took the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, in relief and kept up the momentum their starter gave them, allowing no runs and just one hit (a triple from Aidan Willard in the ninth) combined.
But despite the quiet day at the office from his team’s bats, Oilers head coach Mike Threehouse remained optimistic, noting that his side just so happened to run into a strong performance from their guest’s pitchers — avenging the win Olean got at Batavia back on May 31.
“I think (Chandler) just pitched a good game. He really pitched extremely well today,” Threehouse said. “I mean, we had some good swings and stuff. We just couldn’t square them up, and sometimes that’s what ends up happening when you run into a good pitcher. That’s what baseball’s about. A bad team can beat a good team if the pitcher has a great day. That’s what baseball does. He had a great day pitching, they’re a good team over there, we’re a good team and I think you’re gonna see us go back and forth against them all year long. So, I’m excited to see what the future holds.”
Olean’s Brian Fleming (22) swings at a pitch against Batavia. (Spencer Bates)
Meanwhile, the Batavia offense held no punches. Recording 15 hits in the affair, the Muckdogs took the lead in the third inning and never looked back, piling on four runs in the top of the ninth to officially put the game on ice.
Brady Berdine got his second start of the season for Olean, facing the same team he saw in his first start. Unfortunately, he was unable to get the better of Batavia this time around. In his first start, Berdine gave up just five hits in five innings of work. In round two, he was relieved after three innings, having given up eight hits and five runs.
But again, Threehouse did not place much blame on Berdine alone, acknowledging that the Muckdogs were just seeing the ball well on the day.
“When you’re pitching against a team twice in a row you got to have your best stuff,” Threehouse said. “I’m not sure if he did or not today, but they got some good swings on him. They beat some balls, some balls got through the infield that scored a couple runs as well that got us behind early in the game. They made it tough for us. I don’t think he threw bad pitches. I just think they made some good swings on the ball and they got some base hits off.”
For the Oilers, the game against the Muckdogs was their third in as many days, a factor certainly up for consideration when looking back on the defeat. But in a sense, the rapid pace of summer league baseball is part of what helps the players according to Threehouse.
“That’s the crazy thing about (the league), it’s a two month season. So it’s technically a sprint, but it’s a long sprint. It’s like a 5,000-meter sprint,” Threehouse said. “So it really comes down to the game-by-game. We did that to them at their place. They came here and did it to us at our place. That’s what summer ball’s about. We ran into a great pitcher today. They threw the ball extremely well. And sometimes you just got to tip your hat to the guy on the mound. That’s what we’re doing today.”
Olean will play its next game in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League (PGCBL) on June 9 away from home against the Jamestown Tarp Skunks.
AT OLEAN
Batavia 002 301 104 R:11 H:15 E:1
Olean 001 000 000 R:1 H:4 E:1
BAT: Chandler (6 SO, 1 BB), Beaver (1 SO, 0 BB), Woodly (0 SO, 0 BB) and Romich
OL: Berdine (1 SO, 0 BB), Ryan (5 SO, 0 BB), Cowburn (1 SO, 2 BB) and Radice
