By SPENCER BATES
SALAMANCA — After dropping their last two games, Salamanca Lizards coach Jerico Weitzel emphasized that there was no need for panic, to trust in the work they have done and the results will come.
It was that belief, held onto by a more-than-capable veteran squad, that lifted them to come back from down six runs in a 7-7 extra-inning tie with the Hornell Steamers.
Despite scoring just once through seven innings and facing a 7-1 deficit late, Weitzel noted he did not see the one head drop in his dugout. There was always the belief that they could come back. And with three runs apiece in the eighth and ninth innings, the Lizards did just that.
“Guys kept having good at-bats, guys kept putting it together,” Weitzel said. “At the beginning, offensively, we weren’t putting things together. … But even when we fell behind, 7-1, the talk in the dugout wasn’t (negative). It was, ‘let’s keep battling, let’s keep working, we can get back in this.’”
However, from the way the game began, the prospect of a dramatic comeback seemed as though it was off the cards. The Steamers opened the scoring with a run in the first frame off two hits, and while not scoring in return, Salamanca still saw three players reach base, a welcome sign considering its bats had been relatively absent in its last two games.
But, much like in their most recent loss against the Horseheads Hitmen, the Lizards’ bats fell cold after the first inning, recording just one hit between the second and fifth innings.
It was not until the sixth when the Salamanca offense began to heat up again, and once it did, it kept its foot on the gas. Recording at least one hit per inning until the sole extra frame, the late effort, Weitzel noted, was indicative of a veteran-led team.
“With an older lineup, you get kids that have played three or four years of college baseball with aluminum bats that understand things can change in a hurry,” Weitzel said. “It’s a testament, obviously to the kids, you got to get the right type of kids, but also to the leadership (they bring). They’ve seen some stuff, they know that anything’s possible.”
Salamanca’s Tim Beimel (10) swings at a pitch. Beimel recorded two hits for the Lizards against the Steamers. (Spencer Bates)
And while conceding seven runs on paper may tell a tale of poor pitching or mistakes in the field, that could not have been less the truth. In fact, what kept the Lizards in the game for the grand majority of the time was the product it produced on the mound.
Starting pitcher Dylan Novak went 6.2 innings against the Steamers, striking out five and walking just three in the process. Santino Musone, who came in relief for Novak, struggled to get out of that sixth inning conceding the three runs that allowed the visitors’ lead to balloon to 7-1. But his struggles were temporary and, importantly, not contagious as he, Matt Cardona and Dylan Kinney all combined to keep Hornell off the board for the rest of the contest.
“Dylan (Novak) threw the ball really well, even Tino (Musone), he walks a guy and then he gives up two broken-bat, bad-spot singles where, if one of those is at someone a little bit more, we’re out of the inning,” Weitzel said. “Matt (Cardona) came into a 7-4 game, did his job and got us into the ninth … and Dylan (Kinney) had a bullpen day, he gets out of his inning and gives us a chance. We didn’t cash in, but he gave us a chance. I thought the pitching was really good.”
So, with the Lizards’ pitchers doing their job, all that was needed was a spark on the offensive side of things to give them a chance at a rally.
Enter: Matt Smith.
With two runners on base, the Gannon University product out of Duncansville, Pennsylvania provided that spark as he unloaded on a pitch that sailed well beyond the left-center field fence for a three-run blast.
“Matt is a really good hitter, a really physical kid that hits the ball hard and hits the ball a long way, as we saw today,” Weitzel said. “That kind of presence in the middle of the lineup does things. If you have guys getting on base in front of them, teams have a choice: you pitch to them with guys on-base, or pitch around them, and that’s just more traffic on the bases.”
Salamanca’s Gavin Lasko (9) connects on a pitch. (Spencer Bates)
Riding the momentum of the Smith homer, Salamanca scored three more runs in the bottom of the ninth inning and threatened to walk it off before Hornell escaped regulation. The game was sent to one extra frame, as per NYCBL rules, and after both sides went scoreless in the 10th, they were forced to settle for a draw.
Away from the result, the game was special for the Salamanca Lizards and coach Weitzel as they dedicated the affair to raising money for the 44 & Me Foundation, established by Salamanca faculty member Melanie Ross in honor of her husband Darren Ross, a Salamanca High School graduate and former athlete who passed away from Glioblastoma. The official start time of the Lizards’s 44th game in franchise history was 4:44 p.m., in honor of the No. 44 jersey Darren Ross donned while he attended Salamanca High School.
“(Darren was) a really tough dude and dedicated to the youth of the community,” Weitzel said. “I thought that it was fitting that we battled back to get something out of today and show toughness, because he meant a lot to a lot of people around here. … I wish he was still here, I’d trade anything in for that, but I thought it was fitting that we battled back on the day we were honoring him.”
For their next game, the Lizards will hit the road once again to face the Horseheads Hitmen on June 16 at 5 p.m. It will be the second time the sides have faced off in Horseheads in a three-game span.
AT SALAMANCA
Hornell 100 100 320 R:7 H:10 E:0
Salamanca 000 001 033 R:7 H:13 E:1
Horn: Wilson (3 SO, 1 BB), Ecker (3 SO, 3 BB) and Groves
Sala: Novak (5 SO, 3 BB), Musone (3 SO, 2 BB), Cardona (0 SO, 1 BB), Kinney (3 SO, 1 BB) and Lasko
