Cortland Standard .net

With the first week of the New York Collegiate Baseball League season in the books, a familiar pattern can be seen with the Cortland Crush.
Score first, lose the lead through some mistakes and not come back because of a lack of timely hits seems to be the pattern for the local club.
The Crush are now 1-4 in the Eastern Division standings after dropping games Saturday and Sunday to the Syracuse Junior Chiefs on Greg’s Field at Beaudry Park.
The Junior Chiefs posted a wild 11-8 victory Sunday as the Crush did erase a 10-3 deficit and the visitors were a 6-3 victor Saturday afternoon.
Cortland does not have a scheduled off day until June 16 so the 12 games in 12 days stretch continues tonight with a 7 p.m. contest at Oneonta, weather provided. Syracuse is now 4-2 on the season.
“I think talent-wise we are right there with every team we’ve played,” Crush assistant and hitting coach Matt Frey said after Sunday’s setback. “We have the formula, it’s just about putting it all together. We need to find a balance. We jump to those leads, but we don’t maintain that energy. We keep having highs and lows, we just need to find an even keel.
“It could have been easy to give up being down 10-3 after seven innings today,” he added. “The crowd started leaving and the crowd lost energy, but the entire coaching staff was very pleased with how the guys fought back. They really gave it their best effort. They gave it their best shot to come back.”
Cortland jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. A double steal and throwing error allowed Luke Gilbert to score the first run and an RBI single by Terrell Barringer got the second run home.
Cortland left nine runners on base through six innings while Syracuse took charge with five runs on five hits and two errors in the top of the fourth inning. Dryden High graduate Brian Colbert singled home the first run and was the third straight hit off Crush starter Chris Rupprecht. Two more hits, a passed ball, the two errors and a sacrifice fly pushed the Junior Chiefs advantage to 5-2.
With a single run in the seventh and four more runs in the eighth, Syracuse appeared to be on its way to an easy win. That’s when Cortland put together a stunning rally by sending 10 batters to the plate.
The rally began with an error, walk and single to load the bases with one out. A sacrifice fly by former Homer Trojan and now Mansfield University senior Zephan Kash (2-for-3) was the second out of the inning, but it plated the first of the five runs. Matt Alberino doubled home a run, Cortland High grad and West Liberty University junior Yale Hughes singled home two more runs and Jose Arebalo drove home the fifth run to make the score 10-8. After a walk to Julian Gallup, Syracuse coach Matt Colbert went to his closer Christopher Pennell for the second times in as many days. Cortland left two runners on base in the eighth inning and 14 runners were stranded in the game.
The St. Thomas Aquinas College sophomore got a ground out to end the inning and retired the Crush in order in the bottom of the ninth for his third save of the season.
Justin Healey led the Junior Chiefs by going 3-for-4 with a double, three RBIs and two runs scored. Shane Trevino went 3-for-5 with two doubles and Christian Vargas was 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
Syracuse Jr. Chiefs 6, Cortland 3: Cortland grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning Saturday, but Syracuse countered with four runs in the top of the fourth to take a 4-2 advantage. The Crush added a run in the bottom of the fourth and the score remained 4-3 until the ninth inning. Cortland did leave the bases loaded in the seventh inning and stranded two more runners in the eighth while trying to come back.
The Junior Chiefs got two insurance runs in the top of the ninth after three walks, a hit batter, one error and one wild pitch for a 6-3 cushion.
Pennell came on in the bottom of the ninth to retire the Crush 1-2-3.
Phillip Madonna was 3-for-4 to pace Syracuse. Healey, Samuel Ellinwood and Tompkins College Community College slugger Malik Fogg added two hits each.
Arebalo went 2-for-3 for the Crush who left 10 runners on base.