By Christian De Guzman
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — For the second time this season, the Syracuse Spartans (5-1) walked-off the Sherrill Silversmiths (1-6) after Grant Shepherd hit a two-run double in the ninth inning. Syracuse secured the 4-3 victory over Sherrill
The Spartans entered the bottom of the ninth inning trailing 3-2 after Sherrill scored on a single in the top of the ninth. Kyle Platt started the bottom of the ninth with a one-out walk and Zac Legarretta snuck a double past the third base bag to put runners on second and third with one out. After Jordan Dickson walked, Shepherd came to the plate.
With Sherrill’s infield and outfield playing in, Shepherd drove a pitch over the head of Silversmiths center fielder Josh Bein. Sherrill couldn’t get the ball back into the infield in time to gun down Platt and Legaretta at the plate as Syracuse went home happy.
The Spartans started the game off well with a run in the bottom of the first. Danny Cantor picked up another two-out RBI to increase his team lead to seven. His single gave Syracuse an early 1-0 lead.
Sherrill took the lead back in the second and third innings. An error by the Spartans in the second inning pushed across a run for the Silversmiths and a single in the third gave Sherrill another run. Syracuse tied the game with an Anthony May single in the fifth, but the offense stayed silent for both teams until the ninth inning.
After Matthew Bergan gave up Sherrill’s first two runs, Charlie Hawley came in relief and shut down the Silversmiths bats. The right-hander went four strong innings with three strikeouts in relief to keep the Spartans in the game.
Cantor and Patrick May joined Shepherd as the Spartans with multi-hit nights. Shepherd also increased his hitting streak to five games as he has hit safely in every game that he has played for Syracuse.
With the win, the Spartans move into second place in the NYCBL East Division off the points system. In the NYCBL, a team gets two points for a win, one point for a draw, and no points for a loss. Syracuse sits behind Cortland by two points in the NYCB East Division, but the Crush have played three more games.
The Spartans also raised over $300 for Hope for Heather, a foundation raising awareness for ovarian cancer on Wednesday night through donations.
Syracuse’s next game is on Thursday, June 17 against the Cortland Crush at Onondaga Community College’s Baseball Complex. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm. For tickets, email [email protected].