The Syracuse Spartans went into Sherrill for their first visit at the historic Noyes Park on their 2022 campaign to face off the Sherrill Silversmiths for the third time this season. The Spartans entered Sherrill two points ahead of Sherrill for possession of second place in the Eastern NYCBL division. Veteran lefty Connor Vandreason took the mound for Sherrill, Ethan Collins the right on the mound for Syracuse.
Quickly the Spartans got going, as Matthew Alexander scored on a sacrifice fly from Robert Johnston, after leading off with a double. The Silversmiths responded next in the first, as Joseph Comins cycled around, with a lead-off bunt single, a pair of stolen bases, and an RBI sacrifice groundout from Anthony Poole. The Spartans jumped right back, going up 2-1 in the second, another double from Matthew Alexander plated Cole Rockwell who lead-off with a single of his own. The Silversmiths responded again (are you sensing the theme here?), with an RBI groundout from Marcos Feliz.
It wasn’t until the Spartans’ third frame we saw a scoreless half inning. Ethan Collins ended up holding Sherrill scoreless throughout the rest of his 6 inning start, putting out the last nine batters he saw. He only allowed two runs, as Austin Dunn took over in the seventh.
As for the Spartans, their offense absolutely opened things up through the middle innings. Despite the short-porch in right field, Jimmy Legg (switch hitter batting from the right side), was the first to hit a homer, striking a majestic 3-run shot over the left field fence, making the score 5-2 Spartans in the fourth inning. JC Ng was the first to abuse the short porch, blasting a ball over the right field fence with plenty of distance, a solo shot, making it a 7-2 score in the sixth inning.
Blake Vamdreason was the first to offer a response for Sherrill, striking a line-drive triple to dead center, plating 2 RBI’s. A wild pitch brought Vandreason home right after, making it a 7-5 score, as Austin Dunn struggled quickly for the Spartans out of the bullpen.
That called for Sherrill’s lefty Dylan O’Sullivan to come out of the bullpen, relieving the right handed Colton Davis’ relief efforts. He took over in the 8th inning, and shut down the Spartans quickly, maintaining his ballclub’s two run deficit.
7-5 was the score going into the ninth, as Thomas Roefaro then took the mound for his first inning of work for Sherrill. The Spartans couldn’t score, giving Austin Dunn the opportunity for a save in the bottom of the ninth. Three consecutive walks moved the tying and winning runs on, with only one out in the ninth inning. After a strikeout, that brought up DJ Dillehay as the final batter. A groundout cemented the huge Spartans win, with a score of 7-5, as they move onto 17-18 on the season.