I haven't posted in a couple weeks. Here's what we've been up to:
Gannon: We were rained out at Medaille, so we picked up DII Gannon. They are having the best season in program history, so it was a good tuneup for having 8 SUNYAC games in eight days. A five-run second by Gannon hurt us. We used 10 pitchers to get some work in. We finished with seven pitchers giving up one run over the final six innings. We scoed several runs late, and lost 8-6.
Cortland: We started game 1 off strong, but did not get strong relief pitching. Walks hurt us. Like anybody, Cortland can be pitched to, but when you add in a walk or error, or fall behind, they can pile up runs quickly. They hit the 2-0 and 3-1 pitches harder than most teams. Game 1 was not close.
In Game 2, we lost 5-2 as we only allowed two walks. Their big blow cam in the first. With two on, Dan Fetes was camping under a ball. One step back and BOOM, there's the fence. A three run homer that scratched the back of the fence on the way down was the difference.
We scored first in game 3. It was close until the fifth inning. Again, Cortland scored runs in a bunch. We did get five runs in the game. Coach Dlugosz coached third in the ninth and got us a few runs.
Brockport: We lost the opener 5-0. After a two-out error in the fifth, three straight walks and a bloop hit on a 2-0 count were the difference.
We scored seven times in Game 2, but gave up 10.We gave up five in the fifth, which proved to be the difference.
We also made a few lineup cages to jump-start the offense. Nowak has been sick all week, so he could not play. We had Kos make his debut at first and moved Fetes to left. Also, Gallagher was moved back to second where he played last year (he was playing outfield for us this year). Freshmen Kenny Johnston and Erik Krohl earned starting spots and played centerfield and short, respectively.
Bradford: At home against Bradford, we issued 10 free passes. Played from behind all day. Enough said. 6-4 loss. We did have a lot of loud outs and saw some bats come around.
New Paltz: We dropped the opener 13-5. Give the Hawks credit -- 17 hits, and most of those came early. As we have done all season, we contiued to score a lot of late runs. Nobody gave away an at bat. We had 10 hits and made some solid outs.
Another lineup change took place Friday night. Since every time coach Dlugosz coached third this year, we scored, he would be coaching third for Game 1.
On day 2, we saw a payoff of sticking with our at bats and lineup changes. We won 3-0 and 4-1.Of course, it helps when both starters don't give up a run. Roomates Larson and Sturm allowed only five runners apiece in seven innings. Tommy Morris slammed the door working the final two innings. He continues to throw well. He is from the 845, so his dad and grandfather had a chance to see him throw. Attack the hitters.
Defense was also outstanding. We watched
Moneyball on the way to New Paltz. We're going to call Kos
Scott Hatteburg from now on. He made several nice plays.
The big key was getting runners on early. We had leadoff guys on all day, and we able to run the bases effectively. Lars took on their ace Chris Chismar (he was the ECAC NY Region Pitcher of the Year last year). We got his pitch count over 100 by the sixth. Getting runners on also made those high-stress pitches.
After winning Game 1, we had to stick with Andy coaching third base, and it again paid off. Steve Sturm continued to throw well. He left after seven with a 3-0 lead.
Dan Greco put together a solid week, accumulating 10 hits and solidifying the leadoff spot.
Taking two made the trip home a lot more enjoyable. A little open mike night.
"I'm gonna get some coffee."
Carmody's House: We wrapped up the trip with dinner at Ryan Carmody's house. His folks had the entire team over for dinner. Great food, and good times!
I wanted to give a shout-out to Mike O'Dell. Mike called me on Thursday. He is a legendary intern and manned the original Press Box, The O'Dell Hotel. His son Ben just turned 3 and he hopes to bring him up this weekend.
