AUBURN - The playing field can get pretty murky when the top seed is at stake.
Chet Susslin / The Citizen
Auburn pitcher Bob Buckley throws a shaky first inning, giving up four runs against Fayetteville-Manlius on Wednesday, but pulled it together to toss a complete game and earn the 8-6 win.
Auburn pitcher Bob Buckley throws a shaky first inning, giving up four runs against Fayetteville-Manlius on Wednesday, but pulled it together to toss a complete game and earn the 8-6 win.
Not for the Auburn baseball team, though, who saw clearly through a bad first inning to come back - twice - and defeat Fayetteville-Manlius 8-6 at Falcon Park Wednesday.
With the win, the Maroons have snagged the No. 1 spot in the Section III, Class AA playoffs. The Hornets will likely receive the second seed.
“This was a pretty good effort today,” Maroons coach TJ Gamba said. “They stuck together in a situation where we could have gotten twisted sideways.”
On the mound, Bob Buckley stuck it out to pitch his first complete game of the season after battling through an arm injury earlier this year.
Despite giving up a leadoff triple and two hits in the first inning, along with four runs on two errors, the Maroons never considered tossing in the towel.
Just the opposite, in fact.
“I was pitching fine,” Buckley said. “They had a couple of hard hit ground balls that got passed us, I was just thinking that I had to keep the balls down.”
Beginning with Buckley's line drive single down the right field line, Auburn stacked three singles on top of four walks to score five runs in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead.
“Once we got back up, we were fired up,” Buckley said. “Then we went back out and the adrenaline kicked in and we just went from there. I knew we could come back - we have the bats to do it.”
Austin Straub also pitched a complete game for the Hornets, striking out give and walking six. Mike Rosenbaum paced the offense, with four hits and an RBI.
“We hung in there,” Gamba said. “We were very patient at the plate. They saw one of the best pitchers in the league tonight - Straub is very good.”
Buckley and the Maroons gave up two more runs in the fourth, off of RBIs from Straub (two hits, one run) and Matt Cowie (two RBIs). Despite some struggling on the mound, Buckley was not about to leave the game.
“I didn't know if I was going to last the whole game,” he said. “But I was getting into a rhythm and I didn't want to get taken out.”
After the fourth, Buckley allowed just one hit and two baserunners. The Hornets racked up nine hits overall.
“That was Buck's first full game,” Gamba said. “We kept asking him how his arm was, because we wanted to get him ready for the playoff run. We need him. He's an integral part of our pitching, and he battled out there today. He didn't have his good stuff and he knew it, but he locked in and moved the ball around. They're a very good hitting team and he did a very good job of adjusting and making them hit the ball. That's what a good pitcher does.”
The Maroons took the lead back for the final time in the bottom of the sixth, in less than dramatic fashion. First baseman Steve Komanecky took a leadoff walk, and two batters and one out later, Nick Ventura reached first on a throwing error by Hornets' first baseman TJ Wilson. Tim Locastro walked to load the bases before Matt Wild (1-for-3, two RBIs) was hit by a pitch to bring in Komanecky. Ed Charles then earned his team an insurance run with an RBI single. Charles was the only multiple hitter for Auburn, with two, and two RBIs. The third batter in the order, catcher Noah Donch, also earned two RBIs.
“It was a rough first inning,” Maroons assistant coach Tom Napoli said. “But TJ has instilled in these guys to never quit. They kept battling back an they showed a lot of heart today. A lot of heart.”
“We threw the ball away, we had two errors, in the first inning,” Gamba added. “We should have been out of that inning allowing just one run. But Buckley pitches quick and we bared down defensively after that. We told them to start chipping away after that.”
The Maroons' eight runs came on just six hits. They conclude their regular season this afternoon when they host Oswego. Before the game, Auburn will honor Buckley, Eric Conway, Eric Culver, Donch, Alex Gatewood, Mike Hutchings, Nick Rusinko, Anthony Siracusa and Ventura in Senior Night. The formal sectional seedings will be announced Sunday afternoon, but Auburn has already made plans to host a couple of games at Falcon Park.
“We'll be here until the finals, hopefully,” Gamba said. “We'll either go out in a blaze of glory or play the last possible game here.”
Maroons 8
Hornets 6
With the win, the Maroons have snagged the No. 1 spot in the Section III, Class AA playoffs. The Hornets will likely receive the second seed.
“This was a pretty good effort today,” Maroons coach TJ Gamba said. “They stuck together in a situation where we could have gotten twisted sideways.”
On the mound, Bob Buckley stuck it out to pitch his first complete game of the season after battling through an arm injury earlier this year.
Despite giving up a leadoff triple and two hits in the first inning, along with four runs on two errors, the Maroons never considered tossing in the towel.
Just the opposite, in fact.
“I was pitching fine,” Buckley said. “They had a couple of hard hit ground balls that got passed us, I was just thinking that I had to keep the balls down.”
Beginning with Buckley's line drive single down the right field line, Auburn stacked three singles on top of four walks to score five runs in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead.
“Once we got back up, we were fired up,” Buckley said. “Then we went back out and the adrenaline kicked in and we just went from there. I knew we could come back - we have the bats to do it.”
Austin Straub also pitched a complete game for the Hornets, striking out give and walking six. Mike Rosenbaum paced the offense, with four hits and an RBI.
“We hung in there,” Gamba said. “We were very patient at the plate. They saw one of the best pitchers in the league tonight - Straub is very good.”
Buckley and the Maroons gave up two more runs in the fourth, off of RBIs from Straub (two hits, one run) and Matt Cowie (two RBIs). Despite some struggling on the mound, Buckley was not about to leave the game.
“I didn't know if I was going to last the whole game,” he said. “But I was getting into a rhythm and I didn't want to get taken out.”
After the fourth, Buckley allowed just one hit and two baserunners. The Hornets racked up nine hits overall.
“That was Buck's first full game,” Gamba said. “We kept asking him how his arm was, because we wanted to get him ready for the playoff run. We need him. He's an integral part of our pitching, and he battled out there today. He didn't have his good stuff and he knew it, but he locked in and moved the ball around. They're a very good hitting team and he did a very good job of adjusting and making them hit the ball. That's what a good pitcher does.”
The Maroons took the lead back for the final time in the bottom of the sixth, in less than dramatic fashion. First baseman Steve Komanecky took a leadoff walk, and two batters and one out later, Nick Ventura reached first on a throwing error by Hornets' first baseman TJ Wilson. Tim Locastro walked to load the bases before Matt Wild (1-for-3, two RBIs) was hit by a pitch to bring in Komanecky. Ed Charles then earned his team an insurance run with an RBI single. Charles was the only multiple hitter for Auburn, with two, and two RBIs. The third batter in the order, catcher Noah Donch, also earned two RBIs.
“It was a rough first inning,” Maroons assistant coach Tom Napoli said. “But TJ has instilled in these guys to never quit. They kept battling back an they showed a lot of heart today. A lot of heart.”
“We threw the ball away, we had two errors, in the first inning,” Gamba added. “We should have been out of that inning allowing just one run. But Buckley pitches quick and we bared down defensively after that. We told them to start chipping away after that.”
The Maroons' eight runs came on just six hits. They conclude their regular season this afternoon when they host Oswego. Before the game, Auburn will honor Buckley, Eric Conway, Eric Culver, Donch, Alex Gatewood, Mike Hutchings, Nick Rusinko, Anthony Siracusa and Ventura in Senior Night. The formal sectional seedings will be announced Sunday afternoon, but Auburn has already made plans to host a couple of games at Falcon Park.
“We'll be here until the finals, hopefully,” Gamba said. “We'll either go out in a blaze of glory or play the last possible game here.”
Maroons 8
Hornets 6
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