By HUNTER O. LYLE
lyleoleanstar@gmail.com
OLEAN, NY – In their first taste of postseason action – technically – the Olean Oilers fell to the Dansville Gliders 9-4, shifting the balance of the Western Conference standings just as playoffs are set to begin.
While Thursday’s game came after the close of the regular season, it did not belong to a bracket. Instead, Olean and Dansville met for a sixth time as part of a makeup game to help decide the postseason standings. Ahead of the game, the Oilers held a narrow one-point advantage, meaning they would own both the second seed in the West as well as home-field advantage through the first round.
The Gliders would strike early, with speedster Emmett McLean gaining access to the baseline via walk before stealing all the way to third. One batter later, McLean was rounding home off a sac-fly that set the tone early. Although Olean’s bats kicked into gear – Josh Wilson and Cross Yarborough both singled – they were unable to even the score. Then, in the third, Dansville scored with two men on base from a Jeremy Aylward RBI-single.
It would take another three scoreless at-bats for Olean to finally muster a response. In the sixth, Jake Ambroio led off with a double, then advanced to third on a passed ball. Aidan Cowburn would bring in the first run of the day with a fly out, bringing Olean back to within one run. It seemed from then that the Oilers were building momentum, scoring two more in the seventh to temporarily take the lead – Wilson would steal home on an error and Dustin Hendrix scored thanks to an Ambrosio RBI-single. However, their comeback would quickly be flipped.
Down by one in the top of the eight, Dansville suffered their first out early but a hit batter would put a man on base. Then, Aylward notched his second RBI with a deep triple before eventually reaching home plate on a Justin Colpack double immediately after. The Gliders’ bats would stay hot as the next five batters found gaps in the defense, scoring four more runs to take a 8-3 lead.
Olean had an answer, however, it would amount to just a single run in the eighth – Hendrix brought in Wilson with a sac-fly. The Gliders would tack on one more in the ninth, ultimately sealing the win and stepping over the Oilers in the standings.
Yarborough led Olean in hits with three during his five trips to the plate while Wilson scored a team-high two runs on a 1-for-2 day. Ambrosio finished the regular season 2-for-4 with one run and one RBI while Brodie Collins scored once on a 1-for-2 day in the batters’ box.
The Oilers and the Gliders will see each other once more, this time with all the cards on the table. On Friday, the two will meet in Dansville at 4:30 p.m. for the single-elimination first round of the NYCBL playoffs. The winner will face the Western Conference-leading Genesee Gliders in a best-of-three matchup which will take place this weekend.
AT OLEAN
Dansville 101 000 061 R:9 H:10 E:1
Olean 000 001 210 R:4 H:11 E:1
DN: Dotterweich (8 SO, 6 BB), Confarotta (6) (2 SO, 2 BB), Colpack (7) (2 SO, 2 BB) and Roy
OL: Ambrosio (3 SO, 6 BB), Wilson (8) (1 SO, 0 BB) and Yarborough
