14-8 was your final score from Rochester, as the 2nd place Syracuse Spartans won over the 3rd place Rochester Ridgemen, the teams moving to 11-9, and 9-11 on the year respectively. And for a battle for 2nd place, the game was an absolute rollercoaster until the final inning. 

Cooper Meldrim – the usual tertiary pitcher in the Spartans’ rotation – got the nod Tuesday evening. He struggled to find the zone early, allowing three singles and four walks as he went thru the entire order in the first inning, allowing 4 runs. As for Rochester, their ace Cam Witte took toes the rubber, and quickly held Rochester ahead, retiring the first five batters he saw. 

Surprisingly enough, Witte’s night was over well before Meldrim’s, as a 3 spot in the 3rd inning quickly shortened his night to just 3.2 IP. As Meldrim recovered from the first frame, Spartans hitters played catch up in the 3rd in fourth, with the 3-spot being sparked by a Charlie Burton single, which cleared the bases from an error in left field. They tied it at 4 a piece afterward, after an errant pick off throw to second base allowed Pat May to score after his lead-off walk. 

But that was only the beginning of weird scoring sequences throughout the ballgame, as 7 errors occurred total (3 for Syr, 4 for Roc). From the 4th to 6th innings, both squads traded RBI singles, never scoring more than a run per inning. By then, Meldrim was well over with his evening, allowing 5 runs through 5.0 IP. 

Going into the 8th, Syracuse was down 7-5, and once again in need of an offensive spark. A combined effort in relief for Ridgemen bullpen arms Griffin Icenhower and Caden Wright came to no avail, as they walked three batters, before Charlie Burton once again cleared the bases with a 3 RBI double.

The Ridgemen got one back in the bottom of the 8th, though, as an error on a pick off move from Austin Dunn allowed Jeff Pawlik to score the tying run for Rochester.

With Syracuse once again tied, now at 8 a piece, they found themselves looking for runs for the third time. And once again, Charlie Burton stepped up, partaking in a six inning rout by clearing the bases with a triple! 

Austin Dunn allowed a walk and a hit en route to finishing the game for the Spartans win, with a final stat line of 3.0 IP, and only 1 earned run.