By HUNTER O. LYLE
DANSVILLE, NY – Playing their second double-header in just as many days, the Olean Oilers boarded the bus back from Dansville at 0.500, having lost the first game against the Gliders 3-0 before bouncing back with a 2-1 win in Game Two.
Through four meetings this season, the Oilers and Gliders have been a tightly contested matchup, posting a 2-2 season series coming into Monday afternoon. Olean won out in June, picking up a 5-2 win on the 15th and a 7-3 win on the 28th, but Dansville answered back in July, winning on the 4th, 11-4, and again four days later 4-3. As the second and third seeds in the Western Conference, their newest meeting would hold weight in the upcoming playoffs.
“That’s a good lineup they’ve got and that’s a good lineup that we’ve got. I don’t think a single game we’ve played has been super one sided,” said Olean Oilers’ co-manager Jackson DeJohn. “It’s two evenly-matched teams and somebody’s going to come out on top. It comes down to that one big hit or that one big inning.”
Originally started on last Wednesday but postponed due to inclement weather in the bottom of the first, Olean took to the plate on Monday as the home team despite being in hostile territory. They faced an early 1-0 deficit as the Gliders managed to bring in a run on the initial start. Despite needing to hit the ground running, Olean’s offense struggled to get off the ground, finding six outs in their first seven batters.
Although Olean was able to equally shut out the Gliders in the top of the second, Dansville’s bats began to warm up not long after. Having a man on second after a base hit and steal, Maurice Martinez cranked a single right to Olean’s shortstop, however, an errant throw over first base gave way to the first run of the day. The Gliders added to their lead again in the fourth, when a single and line drive double was followed up by a sac-fly, putting Dansville up 3-0.
Although the Oilers would stifle Dansville from then on, their offense still failed to yield base hits. Despite finding contact time and again at the plate, Olean’s placement struggled to find gaps.
Their frustrations would culminate in the fifth. Picking up two early outs, Olean loaded the bases with a Dustin Hendrix single and two walks, but was sent back to the dugout empty handed after a final strikeout.
In the final two frames, the Oilers managed to put men on base as far as second, but still struggled to come away with a final clutch hit, producing their 14th loss of the season and a momentary drop in the standings.
Matthew Boffalo, Brodie Collins and Cross Yarborough all finished Game One 1-for-3 while Hendrix ended 1-for-2 and Bates went 1-for-4.
In the second game of the afternoon, the action came in bursts, both starting and ending the game.
Playing as the away team, the Oilers got to work early. Despite finding two outs in just as many batters, Brian Fleming would reach second on a single and overthrow. Then, Chase Fischer connected on his first hit of the day, punching a single past the infield and driving home Fleming.
Olean’s lead was put to the test as soon as the Gliders got a chance. On back-to-back first pitches, Dansville cracked a double and single as they quickly put themselves in scoring position. One batter later, Jeremy Aylward hit a sac-fly to bring the game back to even.
From there, it was a battle of defenses on the mound as each team stayed with their ace. For Olean, that was Brock Wensel, who was playing his second game as an Oiler. Hurling with a mix of zone pounding and pitch-to-contact, Wensel and Co. continuously hung zeros on the Gliders.=
However, the Oilers offense would have to wait until the sixth frame to get rolling. After struggling to get past the fourth man in the batting order, Olean opened the sixth with a walk from Josh Wilson and a single from Fleming. After picking up their first out, Cross Yarborough sent a sac-fly deep into the outfield. Bringing in Wilson, they had finally broken the stalemate.
Although Olean tallied their third out soon after, their defense doubled down. Taking to the mound in the bottom of the sixth, Luis Arreola instantly asserted his presence with three consecutive Ks.
Heading into the final frame, however, the Oilers’ coals went cold. After being dispatched sooner rather than later, Olean watched as Dansville quickly set up shop. Back-to-back walks opened the bottom of the seventh, followed by a pair of steals that primed the Gliders for a shot at home plate. After Arreola struck out the next man up, Olean gambled on an intentional walk, loading the bases with both baserunners and tension.
Arreola would pick up another K, his fifth of the day, before Dansville’s Caden Roy snapped a grounder towards second. A split second later, Hendrix was standing on first, ball and hand and well before the Glider. Weathering a late push, Olean had come out on top, splitting the day.
“Luis pounding the zone there was huge. Coming into that inning, (Dansville) was starting off one-two-three (in their batting order) and that lead off kid is super fast,” said DeJohn. “To be honest, at the beginning of the inning we were nervous, we didn’t want to mess up. We didn’t want to walk him, we walked him. We didn’t want to let him take second, he took second. When Luis got that first out, I think it helped him settle down and think, ‘I got this.’”
Fleming led the Oilers with two hits in three appearances, scoring once while both Fischer (1-for-3) and Yarborough (0-for-2) drove in an RBI. Through five innings on the mound, Wensel collected two strikeouts and only five hits while Arreola closed the game out with five strikeouts and zero hits.
Olean only has two games left on their schedule. The next head back towards home, playing a game at Salamanca on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. before concluding the regular season with another meeting with the Genesee Rapids on Wednesday at 7 p.m at home. Beyond that, lies the postseason.
“We just want to save pitching. Save pitching, stay healthy, make sure these guys aren’t getting down on themselves,” said Olean Oilers’ co-manager Jake Meeker. “We’re in a long stretch. Playing back-to-back double-headers is tough on the body so we’re making sure they’re hydrating and getting good recovery in.”
GAME ONE
AT DANSVILLE
Dansville 101 100 0 R:3 H:10 E:0
Olean 000 000 0 R:0 H:5 E:3
DN: Donahue (7 SO, 3 BB), Bullinger (7) (0 SO, 1 BB) and Ruyle
OL: Roche (2 SO, 0 BB), Boffalo (2) (3 SO, 1 BB) and Collins
GAME TWO
AT DANSVILLE
Olean 100 001 0 R:2 H:6 E:2
Dansville 100 000 0 R:1 H:5 E:1
OL: Wensel (2 SO, 1 BB), Arreola (6) (5 SO, 2 BB) and Collins
DN: Currier (3 SO, 3 BB), Butt (6) (0 SO, 0 BB) and Roy
