By SPENCER BATES
ALLEGANY — While it may have wound up with a far smaller margin of victory than it would have preferred, the Olean baseball team officially has its first CCAA Div. I win of the season.
Toppling Allegany-Limestone on the road 11-9, the Huskies put an end to their four-game losing skid which included two losses to league opponent Southwestern. As for the Gators, they bounced back into the loss column after picking up a win in their most recent game over Southwestern, splitting that home-and-away league series.
And Olean, in hunting for its first league win, wasted no time getting its bats going, scoring four runs in the first half of the first inning which was continued from April 29 after a postponement was needed due to adverse weather.
Allegany-Limestone was able to respond with two runs of its own in the bottom of the first inning, but the dent it made far from put a halt to the offensive train the visitors had rolling early on. The Huskies — who were led by Caine DeGolier (1-for-3, run, 3 RBI) and Austin Miles (2-for-4, 2 runs) — scored five more runs in the bottom of the second inning as they jumped on A-L’s struggling pitching and put themselves in prime position to control the remainder of the affair.
But the Huskies offense from then on out was sporadic and only managed to bring across two more runs over the last five innings. A lack of consistency that Olean coach Les DeGolier has seen become a theme with his team this season, and one he hopes to curtail sooner rather than later.
“We needed to string some hits together and play more team offense,” DeGolier said. “In the first inning, we had, I think, four total hits … and pushed across four runs. So that was big. Then we had one other big inning there, but again, it’s about people getting on, it’s hitters moving people around, and then cashing them in finally. My one critique is that in the late innings, we just didn’t really have as much production. I felt like we might have took our foot off the gas a little bit. You got to be consistent all the way through, instead of just showing up in spots.”
Olean’s Austin Miles (1) swings at a pitch. (Spencer Bates)
And as for what DeGolier needs to see change in order for his team to play a more well-rounded game overall is the mindset. Oftentimes throughout the season, he noted he has seen batters approach at-bats far too defensively. Instead, what he would rather see is a more aggressive approach, especially when they hold an advantage.
“Over the last couple days, we’ve been talking about when we’re hitting, it seemed like, for a couple games, we were very defensive in the batter’s box,” DeGolier said. “So the goal has been to attack pitches. Instead of being passive, making sure that our swings are on time and that sort of thing. Just being more aggressive, more offensive when we’re swinging the bats. And I feel like that was accomplished, somewhat, today.”
However, part of what caused the eventual decline in Olean’s offense was thanks to a return to basics for A-L pitcher Collin Forrest (3 SO, 5 BB).
Gators coach Eric Hemphill admitted that in the trips he made to the mound to check up on his pitcher in the midst of his early struggles, he looked to boost his confidence and told him to let the defense do its job behind him.
“We’re learning that if we pitch to contact, our infield and our outfield can play with defense pretty well,” Hemphill said. “Once he started throwing strikes and pitching to contact and letting our defense play is when he started to not give up runs. And that’s what I kept telling him, ‘You don’t have to strike everybody out. Just keep throwing strikes, and we will make plays for you.’ I think that’s where we’re making strides.”
Allegany-Limestone’s Collin Forrest (0) delivers a pitch against Olean. Forrest recorded three strikeouts for the Gators in their loss to the Huskies. (Spencer Bates)
But even though Olean’s offense was unable to produce much later on, it still managed to take an 11-3 lead into the final half inning. All that separated the Huskies from its first CCAA Div. I win was three outs. But the late offense that had condemned the Huskies in recent games became a problem once again and threatened to upend what was poised to be a comfortable win.
Before Olean’s relief pitching could close out the game, Allegany-Limestone wound up scoring six more runs, bringing the final margin of victory much closer than the Huskies would have wanted.
Nevertheless, a win is still a win, and in an uber competitive league, DeGolier admitted he will take them where he can get them, as he hopes his team will be able to string a few victories together in order to put more wind in their sails.
“We have a tough league, and if you can string some wins together, it definitely helps, as momentum is a big thing,” DeGolier said. “Then, you feel like you can go up against anybody. So, yeah, hopefully once we get a couple together, then the momentum will carry us through the rest of the season.”
As for the Gators, Hemphill noted he will be looking for his team to carry the positives they saw in the latter half of the affair with them moving forward.
“We’re going to take good defense, we’re going to take the guys that are having good at-bats, we’re going to put them in the lineup, and we’re going to see if we can split the series with them,” Hemphill said.
Allegany-Limestone’s Khyree Harmon (11) takes a swing. (Spencer Bates)
The sides won’t have to wait very long to face off once more as Allegany-Limestone will travel to Olean on May 1 for the reverse fixture, set to begin at 5 p.m.
AT ALLEGANY
Olean 450 020 0 11 7 2
Allegany-Limestone 200 010 6 9 5 1
OL: Cartmill (9 SO, 4 BB), Teachman (1 SO, 0 BB), Woodring (1 SO, 4 BB), Vogtli (0 SO, 0 BB) and DeGolier
A-L: Strade (0 SO, 2 BB), Forrest (3 SO, 5 BB), LaBella (2 SO, 1 BB) and Cowburn
