Cortland Standard .net

SYRACUSE — A 26-minute rain delay during the Cortland Crush’s New York Collegiate Baseball League game against the Syracuse Junior Chiefs at Onondaga Community College only delayed the inevitable.
The hosts collected 13 hits on the night and scored 10 runs in a four-inning span sandwiched around the delay, which came one pitch into the top of the fifth, and went on to an easy 12-1 win.
The result tightened the pack behind the Eastern Division-leading Syracuse Salt Cats, who beat the host Oneonta Outlaws 10-7 Tuesday night to improve to 19-11 on the season. The Geneva Red Wings (16-13), Crush (17-14) and Junior Chiefs (18-15) are tied for second, all two and a half games back and separated by percentage points.
The Junior Chiefs scored all the runs they’d need in the first two innings, leftfielder Shane Trevino’s RBI double to center in the first and third baseman Michael Elfreth’s run-scoring single to right in the second making it a 2-0 game. The hosts went up 5-0 after a three-run fourth that started when a double to short center by Elfreth fell between three fielders. Elfreth later scored on a groundout before first baseman Alex Perry and designated hitter Brian Colbert collected RBI singles.
Once the game resumed the Crush scored their only run in the top of the sixth. Centerfielder Grant Hoover singled to right with one out, went to second when leftfielder Julian Gallup was hit by a pitch, took third on a fly to deep right by Homer Central product Zephan Kash and scored on a single to left by catcher George Haaland.
Syracuse scored three times in the bottom of the sixth, two runs scoring on a fielder’s choice and subsequent error before a sacrifice fly to center by catcher Philip Madonna. The winners then blew the game open entirely with a four-run seventh, the key blow a two-run double to right by Madonna.
Starter Shae Edmonds (1-2), the first of six Cortland pitchers on the night, took the loss despite surrendering only one earned run with three strikeouts over 3 1/3 innings. Junior Chiefs starter James Wynne got the win, recording his first decision of the season by going six innings and giving up four hits and the one earned run with four strikeouts.
The Crush collected seven hits on the night, one each from seven different players. Haaland singled and had the lone RBI, Hoover scored the run after singling and Kash and second baseman Wes Burghardt each had a double. Perry (two RBIs, three runs) and second baseman Justin Healey (three runs) both went 3-for-4 while Elfreth was 3-for-6 with a double, RBI and three runs.
Cortland was scheduled to visit the Sherrill Silversmiths today in a 5 p.m. start before going back to OCC Thursday for another game with the Junior Chiefs, the first pitch at 7 p.m. Sherrill will visit the Crush for games Friday (6 p.m.) and Saturday (3 p.m.) on Greg’s Field. The same two teams then meet Sunday and Sherrill in a 5 p.m. start.