Cortland Standard .net

Despite managing just four hits in two games, the Cortland Crush were able to salvage a split of Monday’s New York Collegiate Baseball League doubleheader with the Geneva Red Wings on Greg’s Field.
Geneva right-hander Andrew Fisher allowed one hit — centerfielder Julian Gallup’s sixth-inning leadoff single to center — as the visitors won the opener 5-0 to snap the Crush’s five-game winning streak.
Cortland scored the only run of the second game in the first inning en route to a 1-0 bounceback win.
Despite the split, both teams were able to gain a little ground on the Syracuse Salt Cats in the Eastern Division standings. Syracuse lost 2-1 to the visiting Oneonta Outlaws and is now 18-11 on the season, a game and a half ahead of the Crush (17-13) and two games up on the Red Wings (16-13).
The Syracuse Junior Chiefs beat the Sherrill Silversmiths 6-4 in Monday’s other Eastern Division game and are in fourth at 16-14, two and a half games out of first, with Oneonta fifth at 12-13, four games back. Sherrill is sixth at 6-21, 11 games behind the Salt Cats.
Geneva 5, Cortland 0: Fisher, now 3-1 on the season, had five strikeouts in dominating the Crush offense, and was aware that he had a no-hitter going into the late stages of the contest.
“My friend Tommy O’Hara (the Red Wings’ third baseman) was talking about it and I know something was up,” the Amherst College sophomore said. “I had my curve ball going for strikes. That really helped set up my fastball and kept the hitters guessing.
“I think we have a very good starting staff. I don’t think there are many teams that have the starters we have. We can all win games when we have to,” he added.
Fisher retired 13 of the last 15 batters he faced in the contest, and the Crush only sent 26 men to the plate in the game. In addition to Gallup’s hit, he gave up one walk and hit one batter while three more reached on errors.
The Red Wings got all the runs they’d need in the third inning. Left fielder Jackson Rhodes led off with a single to left and centerfielder A.J. Compton walked before third baseman Zach Wingate smashed his first home run of the season to left field to make it 3-0.
Wingate walked with one out in the fifth off Crush starter and loser Chris Rupprecht (2-1) and scored when reliever Crae Watkins hit shortstop Harry Roberson with a pitch with the bases loaded. Watkins then walked designated hitter Matt Eastman to bring home another run, which closed out the scoring.
Second baseman Tanner Ivey went 3-for-4 for Geneva while Wingate was 2-for-3 with the homer, three RBIs and two runs scored.
Cortland 1, Geneva 0: Right-hander Nate Verst (Kentucky Wesleyan) gave up four hits in six scoreless innings with four strikeouts to improve to 2-0 as the hosts won the second game. Righty reliever Tyler Saundry (Niagara) came on in the seventh and allowed one hit with one strikeout to earn his sixth save of the season.
“I had command of most of my pitches for most of the game,” Verst said. “I felt good and confident with my pitches and their location. The one run we got early helped me. I don’t need many runs.
“T.J. (Peterson) and I love to get the ball. I don’t really call it pressure, but we can help build on the momentum. We know when we go out to pitch it will be a close game. I wish we could score a bunch of runs when I pitch, but a win is a win and that’s all good. Winning the second game was huge. The first game didn’t go in our favor. We were a little flat, but we were able to pull out the second game.”
The Red Wings put runners on first and second base with just one out in the seventh before Saundry got a strikeout and a flyout to end the game.
“It makes things interesting,” Saundry said with a laugh. “I am very happy coach (Bill) McConnell has entrusted this with me as far as being the closer. It’s fun getting out there and getting the job done. The wins definitely make it a plus.
“Nate has been absolutely amazing the last couple of weeks. He brings so much energy to the team. It gets us going from the pre-game huddles. He is the guy.”
As noted, Cortland scored the only run of the game in the first inning. Leftfielder Grant Hoover led off with a walk, was sacrificed to second by centerfielder Julian Gallup, took third on a wild pitch and continued around to score as the throw to third by Wingate, the Geneva catcher, went awry.
Rightfielder Luke Gilbert went 2-for-3 to lead the winners offensively, designated hitter Yale Brian Hughes, a Cortland High graduate, with the only other Crush hit.
Roberson went 2-for-2 and rightfielder Nick Meo went 2-for-3 for the Red Wings.
Geneva left-hander Brandon Maddern threw a complete-game three-hitter and fanned four batters but was saddled with the loss.
Cortland was scheduled to visit the Junior Chiefs at Onondaga CC today, with the first pitch at 7 p.m. The Crush will journey to Sherrill on Wednesday in a 5 p.m. start before again traveling to OCC to face the Junior Chiefs at 7 p.m. Thursday. Sherrill comes south Friday for a 6 p.m. game on Greg’s Field, the site of Saturday’s 3 p.m. contest between the same two teams.
FOR THE SECOND TIME in three weeks, Peterson (State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota) is the NYCBL’s Pitcher of the Week. The Crush lefty earned his most recent honors by going 2-0 last week while giving up nine hits and two earned runs in 15 innings with 10 strikeouts and just one walk. He is 4-2 on the season with an ERA of 2.47 and 23 strikeouts in 36 1/3 innings.
This marks the third week in a row that Pitcher of the Week honors have gone to a Crush hurler, Verst having earned the distinction last week.