By SPENCER BATES
HORNELL — What was, for a moment, set up to be another back-and-forth game between the Salamanca Lizards and the Hornell Steamers, wound up favoring the hosts.
The Lizards and Steamers had already tied twice this season in the three times the sides had met, the third meeting resulting in a hefty loss for the Lizards on July 4.
Just five days later, Salamanca returned to Hornell looking to avenge the defeat and even out the season series against their closest competition in the NYCBL West Division. The bats of the Steamers would end up providing a different outcome.
The Steamers nabbed an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the very first inning. However, the visitors managed to find an immediate response in the second, knotting up the affair at 2-2 thanks to runs from Lucas Marsh (2-for-4, run) and Parker Drees (1-for-3, run, RBI), the latter benefitting from a ricocheted pickoff attempt that wound up in left field.
Unfortunately for the Lizards, while an error may have helped them gain an initial foothold in the game, it would be their own mistakes that would wind up biting them over the course of the remaining seven innings.
Hornell jumped back in front with a run in the third and managed to load the bases with just one out on the board in the fourth. The final hit in that inning, before Salamanca’s starting pitcher Alex Rumfola managed to work out of the frame, came as a result of an error. The first of four that condemned the visitors.
In the fifth inning, it was clear that the early offensive momentum Salamanca had on offense had fizzled out as it was sat down in order for a third consecutive frame.
And Hornell was ready to capitalize.
The Steamers got their leadoff man aboard thanks to yet another error from the Lizards. Three more hits and a fielder’s choice later, the hosts took advantage of the struggling defense of its guests and put up two more runs, one being a direct result of an error.
“(Those errors) hurt,” Lizards assistant coach Brandon Higley said. “(Alex Rumfola) really battled hard for us, he started on short notice tonight, so I want to give credit to him. He threw strikes and did his thing. There were a couple of plays where we probably got to make those plays, especially with the way Rumfola was battling for us. We’ll get better, that field hasn’t treated us too kindly so hopefully we play better away from it.”
Rumfola was eventually removed after the fifth inning, finishing his night with four strikeouts, one walk and five runs on 11 hits. However, as Higley noted, his team’s pitching rotation has been one of, if not its biggest asset this season. It is now just a matter of getting the defense to operate with more consistency, which will alleviate some of those larger numbers that, on paper, seem to bring down Salamanca’s pitchers.
“They give us a chance every night,” Higley said of his team’s pitching rotation. “There’s only been one game where we’ve truly been out of it. They’re doing a great job throwing strikes, getting ahead and staying ahead. The defense has been, I want to say, hit or miss. Some nights it’s there, some nights it’s self-inflicted wounds. I think it’s obvious our strength is pitching. I think you got to watch the games to see how much of a strength it is, instead of just looking at the numbers.”
The Lizards did get some action on offense themselves in the next half inning as Connor Smith blasted a ball into deep left field. Unfortunately, in his pursuit of extra bases, he was tagged out at third.
A big hit being wiped off the board is obviously not what the Lizards wanted, but it is what that extra effort represented to Higley that makes all the difference. The ambition and the desire to fight for results is well and alive within the Salamanca dugout. It is just a matter of now honing that drive to a point where smarter decisions can be made simultaneously, ones that will keep runners on the bases.
“That’s what this league is all about, development, learning how to play the game at this level,” Higley said. “Connor is one of the better players in this league, I’ll stand behind that forever. I’ll trust him to make the right decision every time. He had the play in front of him, (Hornell) just made two nice throws. So, I can live with that decision, and I’ll trust him the next time he makes a decision too.”
Still, with all their errors and lack of offensive production, the Lizards had a chance to flip the game on its head after loading the bases with no outs in the seventh, trailing just 5-2 at the time. The jam brought the Steamers’ coach out of his dugout to have a meeting with his pitcher. A conference that wound up working as Salamanca was sat down in order directly after.
The Lizards went hitless over the final two innings, meanwhile the Steamers added three insurance runs to close out the affair.
With only 11 games left in the regular season for Salamanca — five of which are set to come over the next six days and the only break being on July 14 for the NYCBL All-Star game — the race for the postseason is fully on. Just six points separate the Lizards from the third-place Oilers and only three points separate the fifth and second-placed teams in the West.
“I think we just got to keep it simple and keep it one pitch at a time,” Higley said of how his team needs to approach a postseason push. “These players are here to win and they’re here to get better. … We got a bunch of guys who battle every single day and play their hardest all the time.”
Salamanca will have the chance to steal some points on July 10 when they face their Allegany River rivals, the Olean Oilers, on the road. First pitch is currently set for 7 p.m.
AT HORNELL
Salamanca 020 000 000 R:2 H:6 E:4
Hornell 201 020 21X R:8 H:15 E:1
Sala: Rumfola (4 SO, 1 BB), Roth (1 SO, 3 BB) and Lasko
Horn: Protz (6 SO, 2 BB), Feng (5 SO, 0 BB) and Groves
