By SPENCER BATES
ALLEGANY — When the Salamanca baseball team needed a big play in the closest game of its season thus far, it got it, thanks to the palpable confidence in the Warriors dugout.
Salamanca officially got its CCAA Div. I campaign underway after going a perfect 5-0 through its non-league portion of the season and was immediately handed a stern test in Allegany-Limestone, which entered the affair with a tournament championship in tow after defeating Randolph and Portville successively in its hosted tournament.
For the Gators too, confidence played a big role. Unfortunately for them, it was the occasional lack of confidence that cost them the game.
Salamanca and A-L entered the seventh inning of the game knotted up at five runs apiece after sporadically effective offense — and a four-run third inning from both squads — left the result hanging in the balance. And while extra innings may have looked to be on the cards, the Warriors had other intentions, breaking the deadlock in the top of the final frame after Payton Bradley stole third and then home after a throw by the Gators’ catcher, intended to pick off the Salamanca runner, found its way into the outfield.
A-L had a chance to respond and possibly walk-off the game after getting a runner on base, but thanks to Cory Holleran’s impressive night on the mound — throwing three of his nine strikeouts in the bottom of the seventh — the Warriors left Allegany with a 6-5 result going in their favor, their sixth consecutive win.
“It’s hard to shake them, it really is,” Salamanca coach Greg Herrick said of his team’s confidence. “We have young kids, so I thought we’d have a problem with that, but they’ve proven to be tough. They stick together, which helps everybody. You know, there was a lot of bad plays made in the field today that were costly and any one of them could have cost us a game like this that was so close. But they bounce back, each and every one of them. The leaders always pick them up and as a coaching staff, we try to stay positive. We teach, we correct and we move on.”
But while Salamanca found itself with confidence, A-L was in search of some.
Allegany-Limestone’s Caleb Strade (15) delivers a pitch against Salamanca. Strade recorded four strikeouts and five walks in 5.2 innings against the Warriors. (Spencer Bates)
From the early moments of the affair, Gators’ coach Eric Hemphill could be heard trying to galvanize his players, trying to will them into placing a firm grip on the game. But, despite having filled the bases on several occasions in the first few frames, they were unable to take advantage. In fact, the four runs that they scored in the third inning, were all the result of one hit, an inside the park grand slam courtesy of Vinny LaBella.
“We got to change our approach at the plate, we’ve got to put the ball in play, and we’ve got to get the lead,” Hemphill said of the early-game struggles. “I mean, they gave us every opportunity to take the lead and get situated with it and establish ourselves. Instead, we were battling. … We worked our way back in the game, but we’ve got to capitalize early. That takes a lot of pressure off your pitcher from having to make everything be perfect.
“It’s a confidence thing (and) it’s a youth thing. We’re getting those bases loaded, and a lot of times it’s these young guys without the experience. They just got to see success one time and hopefully build off of that. I think that’s what it’s going to take. You start to see some of them taking strides forward, but these situations are different from what they’ve ever been in before.”
But where there were signs of confidence from both Salamanca and A-L was on the mound.
Zach Trietley got the start on the day for the Warriors and battled, striking out six batters, but walking seven as well. And while the walk numbers were high and Herrick eventually pulled him, he is far from concerned with Trietley’s arm, considering it has been a relatively good start to the season for him after having spent a number of years away from the sport. Holleran, in relief of Trietley, diced up the A-L roster, giving up just two hits and a walk along with his nine Ks in 4.1 innings of work.
“(Zach) hasn’t really pitched a lot, so we kind of work him through some things,” Herrick said. “It’s early in the season, and we’re just doing things on the fly, so there are more visits (to the mound). But he’s such a tough kid. He keeps an even keel. He got in trouble in the first two innings, and his body language never changed. He just kept pumping strikes in there, and we got out of it. I trust him. It’s just mentally walking him through some stuff and making sure our infield knows what we’re doing in those situations so we can limit the damage.
“Cory came in and closed the door. And that’s the thing about being a senior and a captain, he just has that mental toughness.”
A similar level of execution was shown on the mound for the Gators as Caleb Strade and Khyree Harmon combined for six strikeouts and six walks, the former conceding the only four Salamanca hits on the day.
“Caleb is going to go out and compete, he’s never going to give in,” Hemphill said. “The first couple innings, he was really on his game. Then he got into a little bit of a rut, he had a couple walks, had a couple hit batters, a couple hits, but we managed to get our way out of it. And then he settles back in, gets back in his groove, keeps us in the game where we have a chance to come back. Eventually he ran out of pitches. But, overall, it was a pretty good outing for him.”
Salamanca’s Jacob Herrick (2) connects on a pitch for a single. (Spencer Bates)
The win was a satisfying one for Herrick and his Salamanca squad, but he knows, as the league games continue to roll, wins will only become tougher to come by. Still, he remains confident in the resilience of his team.
“It’s going to be tough, I think today proved it,” Herrick said of the league season ahead. “I think every game is going to be a battle, just like this. I like our fight, and I think we’re going to be in a lot of games. But we have a long way to go. … We have to keep the growth mentality and keep working (because the games are) only going to get tougher. We got a good start, but the only thing that guarantees us is 6-14.”
Salamanca will look to keep its perfect record intact in its next game, which will come after an 11-day hiatus, against Allegany-Limestone once again, this time on their home turf on April 22 at 5 p.m.
Meanwhile, for Allegany-Limestone, its chance to get back in the win column will come at home on April 16 at 5 p.m. against Otto-Eldred.
AT ALLEGANY
Salamanca 004 010 1 6 4 4
Allegany-Limestone 014 000 0 5 4 1
Sala: Trietley (6 SO, 7 BB), Holleran (9 SO, 1 BB) and Bradley
A-L: Strade (4 SO, 5 BB), Harmon (2 SO, 1 BB) and Cowburn
