By SPENCER BATES
SALAMANCA — The Salamanca Lizards’ search for consistent production on the bats will continue as they once again struggled to see strong connections find unoccupied parts of the field.
In its 3-1 loss to the Genesee Rapids, Salamanca struck out just four times, a number that, on its own, may paint a story of victory. However, only tallying two hits on the night meant that the hosts kept an effective defense busy.
But the focus remains on keeping spirits high, according to the Lizards coaching staff, who want their players to understand that while they may not be seeing their connections lead to hits, the phenomenon will not last forever.
“The players are doing a good job of staying up, considering the circumstances,” Lizards assistant coach Brandon Higley said. “I think we improved, even tonight, considering what we have done the whole season. (We got) into good counts and were consistently hitting the ball hard. (Connecting but not getting hits) is going to happen, that’s baseball. It’s a funny game. They had three blooped singles that dropped in for RBIs. We just have to keep hitting the ball hard and good things are going to happen. It’s a good recipe for success.”
The Rapids opened the game’s scoring in the second inning, taking advantage of a couple of hits and a defensive error from Salamanca, made while attempting to pick off a runner at first. This kickstarted a bit of momentum for the visitors as they proceeded to score a run apiece in each of the next two innings. And while the Lizards eventually put a stop to their opponents’ scoring, they still managed to reach base in each inning from the second until the ninth when they were sat down in order.
Salamanca threatened to disrupt the flow of Genesee’s offense in the third as Timothy Johnson drew a walk with two outs which was followed up by a single from Gabe Roth. Unfortunately for the Lizards, Johnson was caught taking too wide of a turn around second after the Roth hit and was tagged out, ending the inning.
And it is those kinds of mental lapses that, Higley noted, are amplified when a team is trying to fight out of a hitting slump.
“It’s huge, obviously, that was magnified given the circumstance,” Higley said. “We had our two-bat coming up, guys in scoring position and a chance to get back into the game. But there’s a lot of mistakes within a game that can hurt you, sometimes they don’t, but that one just happened to sting us. But we do tell our guys all the time, if you’re going to make a mistake, make an aggressive one. So, I guess if there’s something that you can live with it’s that he made an aggressive mistake there.”
Salamanca’s starting pitcher Jase Bourdon (31) delivers a pitch against Genesee. Bourdon recorded four strikeouts in the loss against the Rapids. (Spencer Bates)
Come the seventh inning, Salamanca’s offense worked their way into an incredibly positive situation, drawing two walks that led to runners on the corners with no outs. Hunter White managed to bring Frank Kula across the plate from third with a sacrifice fly, but after a strikeout and flyout, the opportunity to break the game open was left untaken.
The Lizards’ second hit of the game came via a leadoff single from Gavin Lasko in the eighth inning, but once again, they were unable to take advantage. And after getting sat down in order in the ninth, the loss moved Salamanca’s record on the season to 2-5-1.
Despite the defeat, there were a number of positives Higley was able to take away from the fixture, one being how well his Lizards played defensively in the latter frames.
Salamanca won the game from the fifth through the ninth inning 1-0, shutting out Genesee after it snatched early momentum and a 3-0 lead. But even as their deficit threatened to keep growing, the Lizards remained locked in.
“I think it’s easy to lose focus and lose hope,” Higley said. “We hit balls right at people and then, with the way they scored their runs, it’s hard not to just give up and give in. But this group, our record doesn’t show it, but we’ve fought late in games. We’ve fought down to the last pitch on multiple occasions. … There’s a lot of fight in this group, there’s not a lot that gets them down. I think that it’s going to be an exciting summer.”
Salamanca is set to return to action on June 21 at 4 p.m. for the first game of a double-header against the Olean Oilers.
AT SALAMANCA
Genesee 011 100 000 R:3 H:9 E:1
Salamanca 000 000 100 R:1 H:2 E:3
Gene: Balser (1 SO, 1 BB), Adkins (1 SO, 0 BB), Wagar (1 SO, 2 BB), Cooper (1 SO, 0 BB) and Cooper
Sala: Bourdon (4 SO, 2 BB), Rumfola (2 SO, 0 BB) and Lasko
