POPLAR-RIDGE - Friendly foes Union Springs and Southern Cayuga came into Monday's baseball game as desperate for a win as a team could be this early in the season. Both winless clubs are young this season so the victories haven't been easy to come by.
Jill Connor / The Citizen
Southern Cayuga catcher Stephen Thurston gets the force-out at home plate as Union Springs' Andy Klock slides in during the fifth inning Monday in Poplar Ridge.
Southern Cayuga catcher Stephen Thurston gets the force-out at home plate as Union Springs' Andy Klock slides in during the fifth inning Monday in Poplar Ridge.
The Chiefs struck first after Stephen Thurston drove in Ryan Fessenden on a double in the first inning, but the Wolves took advantage of Southern Cayuga's errors in the seventh, scoring two runs to seal a 10-8 wild win.
“This is a big one,” Union Springs coach Mike Jorgensen said. “It was a little closer than I would have liked, but it was a good win.”
The Wolves tied the game in the third when Andy Klock came home on a wild pitch. Joe Rocker started the game on the mound for the Chiefs and lasted two batters after Klock scored. Spenser Lawyer came in, with no outs, and allowed the run, but struck out three of four batters with the bases loaded to end the inning.
Southern Cayuga responded in the bottom of the inning with two runs, one on a Wolves error, the other on a Clayton Crout RBI single, but the Wolves battled back with two more runs in the fourth. Josh Vanacore scored on a throwing error to bring the Chiefs within one in the bottom of the fourth.
Justin Lyndaker didn't get the win, but threw a solid game for the Wolves, going 5 1-3 innings, fanning 11 and allowing just one earned run. He also fared well at the plate, with two hits and two RBIs. After the Wolves scored three runs in the fifth - two on wild pitches - they were able to push their lead to 6-4.
“We didn't want to let Justin get over 100 pitches, but he did a good job of getting down and throwing strikes,” Jorgenson said.
Lyndaker and Andy Riester belted back-to-back RBI single, giving the Wolves a four-run lead, but, with consecutive two-run doubles by Southern Cayuga's Fessenden and Thurston in the sixth, the Chiefs quickly tied the game.
It didn't last long.
A Southern Cayuga fielding error, the team's third, and another passed ball scored Dave Wilczek and Lyndaker for the win. Not that the Wolves took the bottom of the seventh lightly.
Union Springs' pitcher Jim Burns got the win after pitching the final 1 2-3 innings.
With one out, Burns walked Chris Aguilar and Josh Vanacore to put the tying run on. That's when a player who isn't technically on the varsity squad saved the day and preserved the Wolves' first win.
Sophomore Nick Shrimpton fielded a hard hit ball by Louis Quill at second base, and kicked off a 4-6-3 double play to end the game.
“He just got called up today,” Jorgenson said. “He made three or four nice plays, scored a couple of runs for us and did a real nice job today. He made a good throw and a good decision there at the end.”
The Wolves (1-3) are as happy to get their first win as they are to get it over one of their biggest rivals.
As for the Chiefs (0-3), they'll keep plugging away - building on their never-say-die attitude against their next opponents. The rivals meet again on May 7 in Union Springs.
“We've got to go out every day and play the best seven innings we can play,” Jorgenson said. “We've got to try not to play the opponent, but to play the best baseball Union Springs can play. But this was a big way to start it for us today.”
Wolves 10
Chiefs 8
“This is a big one,” Union Springs coach Mike Jorgensen said. “It was a little closer than I would have liked, but it was a good win.”
The Wolves tied the game in the third when Andy Klock came home on a wild pitch. Joe Rocker started the game on the mound for the Chiefs and lasted two batters after Klock scored. Spenser Lawyer came in, with no outs, and allowed the run, but struck out three of four batters with the bases loaded to end the inning.
Southern Cayuga responded in the bottom of the inning with two runs, one on a Wolves error, the other on a Clayton Crout RBI single, but the Wolves battled back with two more runs in the fourth. Josh Vanacore scored on a throwing error to bring the Chiefs within one in the bottom of the fourth.
Justin Lyndaker didn't get the win, but threw a solid game for the Wolves, going 5 1-3 innings, fanning 11 and allowing just one earned run. He also fared well at the plate, with two hits and two RBIs. After the Wolves scored three runs in the fifth - two on wild pitches - they were able to push their lead to 6-4.
“We didn't want to let Justin get over 100 pitches, but he did a good job of getting down and throwing strikes,” Jorgenson said.
Lyndaker and Andy Riester belted back-to-back RBI single, giving the Wolves a four-run lead, but, with consecutive two-run doubles by Southern Cayuga's Fessenden and Thurston in the sixth, the Chiefs quickly tied the game.
It didn't last long.
A Southern Cayuga fielding error, the team's third, and another passed ball scored Dave Wilczek and Lyndaker for the win. Not that the Wolves took the bottom of the seventh lightly.
Union Springs' pitcher Jim Burns got the win after pitching the final 1 2-3 innings.
With one out, Burns walked Chris Aguilar and Josh Vanacore to put the tying run on. That's when a player who isn't technically on the varsity squad saved the day and preserved the Wolves' first win.
Sophomore Nick Shrimpton fielded a hard hit ball by Louis Quill at second base, and kicked off a 4-6-3 double play to end the game.
“He just got called up today,” Jorgenson said. “He made three or four nice plays, scored a couple of runs for us and did a real nice job today. He made a good throw and a good decision there at the end.”
The Wolves (1-3) are as happy to get their first win as they are to get it over one of their biggest rivals.
As for the Chiefs (0-3), they'll keep plugging away - building on their never-say-die attitude against their next opponents. The rivals meet again on May 7 in Union Springs.
“We've got to go out every day and play the best seven innings we can play,” Jorgenson said. “We've got to try not to play the opponent, but to play the best baseball Union Springs can play. But this was a big way to start it for us today.”
Wolves 10
Chiefs 8
The Citizens' Say
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