By SPENCER BATES
OLEAN — After a five-game losing spell in which their offense had been off-color, the Olean Oilers roared back to life.
Taking care of business on the road against the Niagara Falls Americans on June 26 — a game in which Olean recorded 13 hits — they showed there was plenty more left in the tank when they hosted the Auburn Doubledays on June 27.
The Oilers scored a commanding 15-8 win at Bradner Stadium, tallying 15 hits in the process. For the sudden change in luck at the plate over his team’s last two games, head coach Mike Threehouse chalked a grand deal of the credit up to his staff, who have been working tirelessly with the players to hone their approach.
“I got to give a lot of credit to John Dry, our assistant coach, he’s really been pounding into them that we keep the ball out of the air,” Threehouse said. “We’ve been hitting a lot of fly balls up to this point in time. Tonight, we got some line drives, we got some ground balls, especially when the runners were in scoring position. The guys have been working on it in BP. So, they’ve been listening. It’s a great group of guys, and it’s just kind of about making sure that we have our proper approach. Once that happens, these guys can click. And that’s what they’ve been doing.”
The approach could not have been much better on the day as Olean, after falling behind by two runs after the top of the first inning, responded in resounding fashion, scoring five runs in the bottom of the frame.
In fact, it was three big scoring innings that carried the Oilers to victory. A four-run third and a five-run sixth frame accounted for 14 of the team’s 15 runs.
Olean was in swing mode all night, and what underscored the performance was that they were able to have such success facing the same pitcher that had held them to one run through eight innings just over a week ago.
“That’s the approach we have to take,” Threehouse said. “If we stay in swing mode, we’re in good shape. I think when we were going through that rough patch, we weren’t hitting, we were just taking too many pitches. I mean, you’ve got a bat in your hand, it should just feel wrong not to swing. So, I think if we keep doing that and going in that direction … it’s gonna turn into hits.”
Headlining the Olean offense was Connor O’Mara, who finished 4-for-4 with two runs and three RBI. Alongside him, Darek Staudt put together a dazzling 3-for-4 performance, complete with three runs, five RBI and a home run.
“Staudt’s just been pounding the ball, I mean, it’s been fantastic,” Threehouse said. “He had a little lull, but I think he has 18, 19 RBIs now. He’s been swinging the bat really well. O’Mara’s had a heck of a season. Actually he and Will Watson are taking off back to school back to Wofford. So we’re gonna miss them. We’re gonna miss them a lot. But both of them are great guys, and just having both of those guys in the lineup helped us a lot for sure.”
Olean’s Austin Miles (1) delivers a pitch against Auburn. Miles struck out one batter in 1.1 innings against the Doubledays. (Hunter O. Lyle)
According to Threehouse, there was a buzz surrounding the team ahead of their rematch against the Doubledays. The memory of its near ninth-inning comeback against Auburn less than 10 days ago still lingered. And mixed with the momentum it carried over from its high-scoring game the night before, Olean was raring to go from first pitch.
“They felt good after yesterday’s game,” Threehouse said. “Going into this one, we knew this was a very good team. Auburn’s got a really good team. Their record’s very good. We needed this win tonight and they knew it. So, they came into this game feeling like they were gonna win and they pulled off a great win. It was fantastic.”
On the mound, Jake Manendo picked up the win, striking out two over 3.2 innings. Bryson Huwar had the team-high in strikeouts on the night with four over 3.0 frames.
The Oilers will play their third game in as many days on June 28 when they host the Geneva Red Wings. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.
AT OLEAN
Auburn 210 210 011 R:8 H:9 E:5
Olean 504 015 00X R:15 H:15 E:0
Aub: Baker III (3 SO, 4 BB), Hauptfleisch (2 SO, 1 BB) and Taveras
OL: Manendo (2 SO, 6 BB), Miles (1 SO, 1 BB), Huwar (4 SO, 1 BB), Cowburn (1 SO, 0 BB) and Radice
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