By SPENCER BATES
HOUGHTON — According Salamanca Lizards coach Jerico Weitzel, the key term when it comes to his team’s recent winless stretch is situational hitting.
And against the NYCBL West Division’s leaders, the Genesee Rapids, those struggles popped up yet again. Salamanca’s struggles to record timely hits have persisted and have contributed heavily to the 0-4-1 stretch it finds itself on. In fact, in its last two games combined, since their 7-7 tie against the Hornell Steamers, Salamanca has left 21 runners on the basepaths, including four separate instances in which it has left the bases loaded, one of those occurring in their 6-2 loss to the Rapids.
“We definitely had a lot of chances, I just think tonight it was more of a mix of, we didn’t do a great job of situational hitting, but when we did hit a ball hard, it was right at someone,” Weitzel said. “There was a couple of times where we needed to put a ball in play and we ended up striking out, which is hard (mentally), because it’s going to happen, but you got to tell yourself it can’t happen.”
After the Lizards were blanked in the top of the first, Genesee took advantage of some fortunate connections and jumped ahead to a 2-0 lead. But the hosts were unable to take advantage of any momentum after the opening inning as Salamanca’s starting pitcher Dylan Kinney (7 SO, 1 BB) managed to keep the Rapids off the board until the sixth inning.
“(Dylan) really settled in and gave us some quality innings,” Weitzel said. “Two runs in the first inning, that could implode and get away from you real quick and he really settled in and gave us a chance to win the game.”
In that time, the Lizards were able to get some offense going, knotting the game up at 2-2 after loading the bases with back-to-back hits and a walk to start the fourth frame. Frank Kula (1-for-4, run, walk) and Gabe Roth (1-for-4, run) represented the game-tying runs with an RBI apiece being attributed to Matt Smith and Harley Hoag.
Unfortunately for Kinney, Genesee managed to connect on an 0-2 pitch in the sixth inning that, according to Weitzel, was exactly “where we wanted it” which was turned into a triple. That runner then came across the plate for the go-ahead run.
Kinney was replaced after the sixth, and with wind in their sails after breaking the deadlock, the Rapids erupted for three more runs in the seventh, solidifying the win as the Lizards could only conjure up one hit between the eighth and ninth as they tried to rally.
The loss to Genesee was Salamanca’s fifth game in as many days and the long stretch of activity before a reprieve is set to continue with a double-header on June 18 against Watertown, a rematch with Genesee on June 20 and another double-header on June 21 against Olean.
But luckily, what Weitzel pointed out is that what his team needs to fix is not something that requires time off.
“I think it’s more just about explaining the mindset,” Weitzel said. “There’s not a ton you do for (improving situational hitting). It’s not a mechanical problem, there’s not a drill you do for it, it’s a mindset and your approach when you go to the plate. You talk about it with the kids before, during the game, and then after the game. Tomorrow, we’ll talk before batting practice about how important it is that we put the ball in play, do it early in the count and get the job done. We’re not going to be perfect at it, but you got to tell yourself, ‘I need to do this right now and really get it done.’”
The first game of the Lizards’ double-header against Watertown is set for 4 p.m. on June 18 at Veterans Memorial Park in Salamanca.
AT HOUGHTON
Salamanca 000 200 000 R:2 H:5 E:1
Genesee 200 001 30X R:6 H:11 E:0
Sala: Kinney (7 SO, 1 BB), Musone (3 SO, 2 BB), Cardona (2 So, 0 BB) and Lasko
Gene: Guzman (5 SO, 2 BB), Stefan (0 SO, 1 BB), Alexander (1 SO, 1 BB), Cooper (1 SO, 0 BB) and Larson, Chamberlin
