By Donny Chiarel

It was a gorgeous day at Onondaga Community College, as the 2021 NYCBL season officially kicked off. The Syracuse Spartans took down the Syracuse Salt Cats by a final score of 2-1.

The scoring began with an Anthony May RBI, scoring Grant Shepherd in the bottom of the 1st inning. After that, the Spartans did not surrender the lead for the remainder of the game.

Zac Legarretta added to the run total with an RBI-double, scoring Jake Sisto in the bottom of the 5th inning to extend the lead to 2-0. Both RBI’s were registered by former Spartans, as well.

The pitching staff of the Spartans was solid, starting with incoming UPenn freshman Noah Millikan registering 3 innings, walking 3, striking out 4, giving up 1 hit and no runs. Matthew Bergan then went on to toss 3 innings himself, striking out 2 and giving up 2 without allowing a run. Andrew Case threw a scoreless inning before handing the ball to Jordan Dickson, who closed things down with 2 innings, 3 strikeouts, 1 walk, 1 earned run and 2 hits.

The Salt Cats scored their lone run off of an RBI from Matthew Rinaldi, scoring Kent Wilson in the top of the 8th inning.

The Spartans will travel to Cortland tomorrow at 12:00, followed by a home game with the crush on Wednesday night.