By Donny Chiarel
SYRACUSE, NY – The Syracuse Spartans dropped this evening’s contest to the Cortland Crush by a final score of
In the bottom of the first, Jordan Dickson kicked things off with a double, followed by a walk drawn by Grant Shepherd. Kyle Hoog collected an infield single that loaded the bases for Caleb Millikan, as he collected two RBI’s to strike first with a 2-0 lead. Jackson Geisler reached first on a fielder’s choice that scored Hoog, quickly making it 3-0.
Robert Ciulla and Zach Marriott both got on base in the top of the second. The nine-hole hitter Corey Stofko drove in both runners to pull within one, making it 3-2 Spartans.
A similar situation occurred in the fourth, as both Ciulla and Marriott reached again on back-to-back at bats. Zach Kemp forced a flyout before striking out Stofko, ending the inning.
Teague Conder reached on an error and Zac Legaretta singled to put two runners on for Kyle Platt, who drew his second walk of the evening. A web-gem by Zach Marriott retired the side, leaving the bases juiced for Syracuse in a moment where a base-hit could have scored multiple runs.
Derek Shea entered the ballgame for Zach Kemp, but Alexis Castillo doubled into deep right field, which scored Colt Harris, in the top of the fifth inning to tie the game up at 3-3.
Nicholas Pastore reached on an error in the top of the seventh and ended up advancing over to third base. Alexis Castillo lined a ball into left field for his second RBI of the evening, giving the Crush a 4-3 lead. Cortland continued to pour it on with a two-run single by Jason Boule to extend the lead to 6-3. To top it off, Griffin Synder pinch-hit for Zach Marriott and blasted a two-run home run to left field to make it 8-3.
The Spartans loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh, and with two outs, Jake Sisto placed a crown on his head. Sisto punished a fastball that left centerfield in a hurry, giving him his first grand slam and home run of the summer, bringing the game to within one run at 8-7.
“You look back at the inning; it started with an error,” said Coach Michalski on the five-run inning for Cortland. “That started the train for them. They had a couple of two out hits and it kept it going.”
CJ Roulo’s appearance ended after two runners reached to start the top of the eighth inning. Ryan Cormier came on, the fourth pitcher of the game for Syracuse, forcing a fly-out to end the frame without allowing a run.
The Crush added back-to-back RBI double’s from Jake Anderson and Tyler Beard, which pushed their lead to 10-7 going into the bottom of the ninth. Syracuse went down one-two-three to close things down, dropping their second game of the season.
Coach Michalski was in good spirits post-game, despite the loss.
“I commend our guys for coming back and battling to put some runs back on the board to make it a ballgame.”
“We’re never out of the fight,” said Michalski. “Our main message was that even though Jake (Sisto) got the big hit, you have to look at what happened before. There’s some stuff to work on.”
Syracuse’s next game is on Friday, June 18 against the Syracuse Salt Cats at Onondaga Community College’s Baseball Complex. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm. For tickets, email [email protected].