By Donny Chiarel

SYRACUSE, NY – Game 3 of the NYCBL season for the Spartans had all of the moods: intrigue, drama, suspense to name a few. The Syracuse Spartans (3-0) took down the Sherill Silversmiths (0-3) in 10 innings, with a final score of 4-3, thanks to a walk-off RBI single from Caleb Millikan. 

In the top of the 1st inning, Wells College product Zach Kemp walked two of his first three batters to put two on base. Cole Palmieri poked a ball down the third base line to score Brady O’Brien for the first run of the ball game. Another walk put runners on the corners for James Schmidt, who struck out to end the inning. 

An 11 pitch at-bat walk for Jake Sisto in the bottom of the 2nd, followed by a Kyle Hoog walk, put two runners aboard. Pomona-Pitzer junior Caleb Millikan went on to slap an RBI single into shallow left field to even things up at 1-1, his first RBI of the season. 

To start the bottom of the 3rd, Jordan Dickson and Grant Shepherd went back-to-back with doubles into right field, with Shepherd’s being an RBI to score Dickson, making it 2-1. Danny Cantor kept the magic going with an RBI single to make it 3-1, his 4th RBI in two games. 

Something was brewing for the Silversmiths in the top of the 4th, as Brad Keefe was hit by a pitch before Clay Campbell drew the 5th walk of Kemp’s outing. After three walks in the first inning for Kemp, he looked to be settling down, but he did have a few runners reach in the top half of the frame. Nonetheless, the defense stayed composed, as Grant Shepherd got under a high fly to leave two Silversmith runners stranded. 

Salem CC’s Joey Davis came in to relieve Zach Kemp to start the 5th, who had a final line of 4 innings, 1 hit, 1 earned run, 5 walks and 2 strikeouts. Davis went straight to work, as he retired three straight batters, striking out his first two in his first half inning of work. 

Davis threw 3.2 innings with 0 hits allowed and 2 strikeouts, but 3 of his 5 walks allowed Sherrill to load the bases in the 8th inning. Andrew Case was called in for relief of Davis in need of one out. Case threw 6 pitches, with the final pitch being a called third strike to get out of the jam. 

CJ Roulo came in to close things down in the top of the 9th, making his 2021 Spartans debut. After hitting Clay Campbell and walking Brady O’Brien, Coach Matt Michalski brought in Jordan Dickson to pitch from first base to try and finish the job. Ben Metzner had other ideas, as he roped a 2-RBI double into left field to tie the game up at 3. Dickson ended up retiring the side, but the game would head to the bottom of the 9th inning. 

Partick May pinch-hit for Kyle Platt, as he reached on a four pitch walk, bringing up the top of the Spartans lineup. Dickson would go on to reach base on balls, which led Grant Shepherd laying down a bunt that would allow him to reach first base safely. Derek Shea popped a fly ball into center field, which was caught by Bein. Jordan Dickson was thrown out at 2nd due to not tagging up, which led into the 10th inning. 

Dickson stayed on the mound and allowed two baserunners. As the winning run stood on second, a fly ball was pulled down by Kyle Hoog, who rifled it back to second to turn a double play of his own, setting the stage for the final inning. 

Kyle Hoog singled to right in the bottom of the frame to start the offense. Hoog advanced on two wild pitches all the way to third. It was Caleb Millikan who was the hero, lofting a ball over Keefe, giving the Spartans their third win of the season, moving to 3-0, their best start since 2017. Millikan finished 3-5 with 2 RBI’s, the Print Solutions Plus Player of the Game.

“I knew he was going to come with a fastball,” Millikan said. “I just waited on it and I was ready for it, and it worked out.” 

When asked about his approach, Millikan kept it straight-forward. 

“I just keep it simple. I tried to stay up the middle, and I felt like I did a good job.” 

Coach Matt Michalski added how he thought Millikan performed this evening. 

“He was awesome, he was the king of the two-ball hit today, so he really helped us out a lot,” Michalski said. “He’s been battling, doing the right things on and off the field, and he got to see the fruits of his labor tonight. 

Jordan Dickson earned his first win of the season on the mound with a final line of 2 innings, 1 hit, 2 walks and 1 strikeout. 

The Spartans are back at home tomorrow evening at 7:05 p.m. against the Cortland Crush, their second matchup in three days. Fans should email [email protected] for tickets.