7-4 was your final score from Gutchess Lumber Sports Complex as the visiting Syracuse Spartans move to 8-6 on the season. The Spartans remain in second place in the Eastern division, now only 5 points behind the NYCBL’s best in their foes for the evening, the Cortland Crush. 

The Crush entered the ballgame on an 8 game winning streak, but the Spartans’ left-handed hitters were the namesake of Crotland’s first loss in over a week. But it all had to start with an outstanding performance on the mound. Spartans ace and big lefty in Nick Jessen got the nod, and showed up, finishing with 6 innings of one run baseball. His command was excellent, and showed massive improvement from his previous two hittings, controlling the Crush lineup to a minimal 6 hits. 

As for the Crush, their starter Kevin Worek was poised for a good outing himself. In the first inning, he kept it scoreless with his mix of pitches from both over the top, and submarine! Nonetheless, Noah Roots ended that comfortability, leading off the second inning with one of his 3 hits on the evening, finishing with a triplet of singles, an RBI for each one. Kevin Worek found himself out of the ballgame with a scoreline of 3 IP, with 3 runs and 5 hits to his name. 

After jumping out to a 3-1 lead, it was smooth sailing for the Spartans, who ended with a team total of 9 hits on the Tuesday evening ballgame. Alongside Noah Roots, Kyle Hoog’s 2-5 game at the plate, as well as JC Ng’s lone lead-off triple, were the two other hitting performances of note. 

The cherry on top was Josh Martin’s save, savoring a celebratory slice of pizza after an easy 1-2-3 scoreless final inning. 

Another eclectic effort for the Syracuse ballclub, as they look forward to their doubleheader Wednesday evening against a mid-level Genesee Rapids team, at OCC.