The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Sherrill wins, loses in NYCBL games
Silversmiths win at home, let lead slip away on road
The Sherrill Silversmiths entered New York Collegiate Baseball League play on Wednesday looking up at just one team in the East Division standings, the Cortland Crush.
They entered a rainy weekend in a similar position.
Michael Wroth hit two home runs in support of Jason Hellwig, who threw eight strong innings to pick up the victory on the mound in a 7-3 win at Noyes Park on Wednesday but a dominant effort by Oneida alum Mitch Cavanagh went to waste at Wallace Field on Thursday when the Crush scored the game’s final seven runs for a 7-6 victory in 10 innings.
With a rainout on Friday, Sherrill remained two games behind Cortland in a very tight Eastern Division with only three games separating first and last place.
Hellwig was stellar on the mound for Sherrill on Wednesday, allowing two earned runs on four hits and two walks with a strikeout over his eight innings of work.
Wroth went 2 for 4 with the two home runs, driving in three and scoring twice. Kingsley Ballao also scored twice for the Sil- versmiths in the winning effort.
Wroth started the scoring in the bottom of the second, swatting a leadoff home run into the trees behind the right field fence for a 1-0 Sherrill lead.
The Silversmiths tacked on four more in the bottom of the third against Cortland starter Jesse Sustachek. Joshua Goldstein was hit by a pitch with one out to start the rally. Jake Coro followed with a single to put runners on the corners for Ballao. Coro stole second and Goldstein broke for home on the throw down, which sailed into center field. Goldstein scored and Coro took third on the play. Ballao eventually struck out but reached first on a dropped third strike, scoring Coro on the play. Wroth then launched a long home run to left, giving the hosts a 5-0 edge.
Cortland scratched across runs in the fifth and sixth innings to pull within three. Hellwig walked Joey Assenza to lead off the top of the fifth and Joseph Tevlin followed with a single to put runners on the corners. Jimmy Murray then bunted the ball back to Hellwig on the mound and the pitcher opted for the out at first, allowing Assenza to score and close the gap to 5-1. Hellwig got the next two batters to ground out,
limiting the damage.
Tyler Schmidt led off with a double in the top of the sixth, advancing to third on a groundout by Kyle Bouchard and scoring on another groundout by Dylan Ketch.
Patrick Meagher came on in relief in the bottomof the sixth and Craig Sandford blasted a solo home run with one out, putting Sherrill ahead 6-2.
Sandford would drive in another run in the bottom of the eighth, plating Ballao with a sacrifice fly to give the hosts a 7-2 advantage.
Oneida alum Rylan Baker took the mound in relief of Hellwig in the top of the ninth and surrendered a run on two hits but finished out the game.
Cavanagh took the hill for the Silversmiths on Thursday at Cortland State’s Wallace Field and turned in a gem. The Oneida product didn’t allow a run over six and twothirds innings, surrendering just three hits and walking two while striking out seven. His only trouble of the day came when he walked Joseph Tevlin before giving up a single to David White in the bottom of the seventh. With runners on the corners, Kyle Simcock came on in relief and quickly fell behind TJ Wegmann 3- 0 but came back to get a fly out to right field to end the inning.
Sherrill’s offense, meanwhile, appeared to generate enough offense to complete a sweep of the home-andhome series. Ballao scored Joshua Goldstein with a groundout in the top of the first and, after Coro singled with two outs in the top of the third, belted a two-run home run for a 3-0 lead.
The home run was Bal- lao’s sixth of the season, tying him with Hornell’s Jared Kapturasky for the league lead.
An RBI single by Goldstein and a sacrifice fly by Coro in the top of the fifth put the visitors ahead 5- 0 and Wroth singled and came around to score on a wild pitch in the top of the eighth for a 6-0 advantage before things began to go south for the Silversmiths.
Simcock allowed a leadoff single to Josh Reuter in the bottom of the eighth and hit Charles Edwards two batters later. He then retired Schmidt for the second out but Dylan Ott hit a two-run double to score the Crush’s first two runs. Devin Long came on in relief and threw eight straight balls, walking Flock and Tevlin before he was lifted for Tyler Hertzwig. Sherrill’s closer appeared to get out of the jam but an error allowed two more runs to score, closing the gap to 6-4.
Hertzwig was on the verge of getting the save after retiring the first two batters in the bottomof the ninth but Charles Edwards kept the game alive with a single. Schmidt then hit an RBI double and Ott followed with an RBI single, tying the score at 6-6 and sending the game to extra innings.
Sherrill managed a single but nothing more in the top of the 10th before Cortland capped its come-frombehind walk-off win in the bottom of the frame. Tevlin and White led off with back-to-back singles, with Anthony May pinch running for Tevlin. Wegmann sacrificed the runners to second and third before Josh Reuter was intentionally walked to load the bases. Assenza came to the plate as a pinch hitter and reached on a fielder’s choice withMay scoring the gamewinning run.