Cortland Standard .net

It was a team effort that earned the Cortland Crush its second victory of the season Thursday night at Greg’s Field at Beaudry Park.
Yale (Y.B.) Hughes had a no-hitter for four and one-third innings, Chris Mattison’s bat came to life and Wes Burghardt played solid defense at second base as the Crush posted a 5-4 New York Collegiate Baseball League win over the visiting Syracuse Salt Cats. Cortland snapped a four-game losing streak to improve to 2-6. Syracuse falls to 6-3.
In other NYCBL action, Niagara Power and Geneva Twins split a doubleheader. Niagara took game one 5-2 with Geneva grabbing game two 7-0. Elsewhere, Hornell topped Rochester 4-1, Genesee nipped Wellsville 5-4 and Syracuse Junior Chiefs downed Oneonta 2-1.
“I got to the field early today,” Mattison said after his 4-for-4 day that included a double and four RBIs. “Me and Coach (Matt) Frey worked on a few things in my hitting. It was about me stepping out and keeping my hips through the ball. I just did what I could to apply that in the game.“I got a lot more confidence after that first hit,” he added. “I was ready to roll. I saw some good pitches. I did see a few more fastballs, which I like the best. It was a good night because I had fast runners on base and that led to me getting more fastballs to hit.”
Hughes struggled in the first inning as the former Cortland High hurler and West Liberty University junior threw 23 pitches and hit two batters, but did not allow a run. After that he settled down and pitched seven innings. Hughes did not allow a hit until a one-out single by Cameron Dias (2-for-4) in the top of the fifth inning. He allowed one unearned run, three hits, one walk and struck out six Salt Cats batters.
“I tried to hit more guys, but I missed,” Hughes chuckled. “Missing barrels (bats) was key tonight. My slider was a my out pitch because I got ahead of batters with my fastball and was getting strikes with my off-speed stuff.
“I was able to change speeds with the slider,” he continued. “I could come inside. I just felt good with my slider and fastball. My change-up just wasn’t there, but I did use it a couple of times. My splitter was working as well.”
After hitting lead-off batter Matt Mastrioanni (2-for-4). Hughes got the next two batters out on a sacrifice bunt and strikeout. Hughes then hit Brian Bilello, got Johnny Knight to hit into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.
The Crush responded immediately to give their pitcher a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the inning. Grant Hoover was hit by a Thomas Burke pitch to lead things off. Jose Arebalo (2-for-3) singled to put runners at first and second. Mattison (Frederick Community College) took a 1-0 pitch and laced a single into left-centerfield driving in Hoover. A wild pitch allowed Arebalo to advance to third while Mattison went to second. Zephan Kash grounded out to the second baseman, but Arebalo came home for the 2-0 lead.
The Crush added a run in the bottom of the third inning. Julian Gallup drew a one-out walk. The Niagara University sophomore stole second base before Arebalo drew a walk to put runners at first and second. Mattison singled to left field to plate Gallup for a 3-0 advantage. With Gallup at second and Mattison at first, Kash popped out to shortstop Timothy Hunter who made a nice catch and fired the ball to second base to double up Arebalo to end the inning.
Hughes retired 13 of 14 batters after hitting Bilello before Cortland pushed its advantage to 4-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning. Gallup walked, stole second base and advanced to third on a throwing error by the Salt Cat catcher Manny Colon. With two outs, Mattison showed the strength by flicking his wrist and pulling the ball into left-centerfield for an RBI single with two out.
Syracuse scored its first run in the top of the sixth inning. Hunter singled to right field with one out. Colon singled put put runners at first and third. Colon would steal second as both Salt Cat runners were in scoring position. A passed ball by Crush catcher Alex Loberger allowed Hunter to score the unearned run as Colon went to third. Hughes jammed Knight with an inside pitch that he fouled into the air behind home plate. Loberger made the catch for the second out. Hughes got Lucas Tevlin to ground out to end the threat.
Cortland scored it final run in the bottom of the seventh inning. Arebalo hit a one-out single and the Eastern Nazarene College junior scored on a double to right field by Mattison for the 5-1 cushion.
Adam Holowienka came on to pitch in the bottom of the eighth inning. The Neumann College junior retired Syracuse with two strikeouts and a nice pick-off of Mastrioanni who led off the inning with a double. Holowienka threw behind the runner. Cortland shortstop Matt Alberino dropped the ball on the tag, but Mastrioanni tired to advance to third base. Alberino chased him towards the base before flipping the ball to Nick Panissidi who tagged Mastrioanni out,
Syracuse did make things interesting in the top of the ninth inning. Bilello walked and former Jamesville-DeWitt star Chris McGee singled in his first plate appearance of reliever Cody Barnes. Crush coach Bill McConnell opted to go with Chris Rupprecht and the Neumann College senior struck out the first batter he faced. Dias singled to left field to score Bilello, but when the ball was misplayed, McGee also came around to score as Dias went to second base. The Crush advantage was down to 5-3. Brandon Cornelius hit a grounder to third base that was misplayed. Dias could not advance, but Cornelius was the tying run at first base. Mastrioanni singled to right field, Dias scored on the hit to pull Syracuse to within 5-4, but a strong throw by Luke Gilbert kept Cornelius at third. With runners on the corners, Rupprecht got Hunter to hit a ground ball to Burghardt at second. The SUNY Brockport senior and Chittenango alumnus smothered the ball and made a good throw to first base for the final out. It was his sixth assist of the game to go with three put-outs.
“I just made some plays and did whatever I could to help us win the game,” Burghardt said of his three putout, six assist night defensively. “It was a tough play as the runner did move in front of me. In clutch situations, you don’t think of anything else. Your mind is going 100 miles per hour, but you just focus. I did that and made the play.
“It was a big win,” he added. “Whenever your pitchers are on their game you have a chance to win.”
Hughes was credited with his first win of the season and Rupprecht picked up the save. Burke took the loss.
The Crush will host Oneonta today at 6 p.m. and Sherrill on Saturday, with the first pitch slated for 3 p.m.
Saturday will be the Crush’s Veterans Recognition Day, with a pre-game picnic for veterans scheduled for 1 p.m. at Beaudry Park and an honor guard and flag salute just before the start of the game, at 2:45 p.m. The activities are sponsored by Cortland Elks Lodge 748.