Waves outlast Pilgrims, 6-3
July 25, 2015 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Ocean State Waves News Release
Forges Field, Home of the Plymouth Pilgrims
(Plymouth Pilgrims, Credit: Ocean State Waves)
PLYMOUTH, M.A.-Fresh off a twelve-inning loss against the Vermont Mountaineers on Thursday, the Waves needed a strong performance against the Plymouth Pilgrims on Friday. Backed by clutch hitting and strong relief pitching, the Waves rolled past the Pilgrims in fourteen innings, 6-3, in front of 536 fans at Forges Field.
Making his third start of the summer was Geoff Murphy (Boston College). In five innings of work, Murphy allowed three runs on six hits, striking out five batters while yielding three walks. The Pilgrims hopped on the board right out of the gate against Murphy when Justin Smith (Miami FL) blasted a solo home run over the left field fence to give the Pilgrims an early 1-0 lead.
Despite the early home run by Smith, the Waves bounced back in the top of the second against Pilgrims starter Tyler Johnson (South Carolina). With one out, Buck McCarthy (Bryant) launched his second homer of the summer out to left field. Following McCarthy's homer, the Waves put runners on first and second courtesy of a single by Jake Palomaki (Boston College) and a walk by Nick Dawson (Southern Mississippi). However, Johnson induced a ground ball out off the bat of Ryan Blanton (Georgia State) to end the inning with the score locked at one apiece.
After the Waves tied the game, the Pilgrims bounced back against Murphy in the bottom of the third. Logan Koch (South Carolina) led off the inning with a walk, replaced by Zach Schritenthal (Memphis) after the latter grounded into a fielder's choice. Schritenthal moved to third on a single by Jack Larsen (UC-San Diego), ultimately coming around to score on a wall-ball double by Smith to give the Pilgrims a 2-1 lead.
The Pilgrims tacked on another run against Murphy in the bottom of the fifth, when Brent Rooker (Mississippi State) launched his league lead-tying ninth home run of the summer out to left-center to propel the Pilgrims to a 3-1 advantage.
Once Murphy ended his outing, the Waves turned to Brad Applin (Rhode Island) in the bottom of the sixth. Applin dominated the Pilgrims lineup in his three innings of work, allowing just one hit while striking out four batters. Applin ended his outing by retiring the last seven batters he faced, striking out two batters in the eighth inning.
While Applin reigned over the Pilgrims lineup, the Waves capitalized on a comeback attempt in the top of the seventh. Palomaki started the rally with a one-out single, moving over to second on an error by third baseman Mandy Alvarez (Eastern Kentucky). Palomaki came around to score on an RBI double by Blanton, while Dawson (who reached on the error by Alvarez) scored the tying run on a sacrifice fly by Tim Lynch (Southern Mississippi).
After three innings from Applin, Waves manager Eric Cirella made the call to the bullpen, bringing in Ricky Dennis (Monmouth) to face the Pilgrims in the ninth. Dennis worked around a one-out walk to Tanner Giesel (Georgia College and State) to retire the side, including a deep fly out off the bat of pinch-hitter Mason O'Brien (Oklahoma State) to send the game into extras.
The game evolved into a battle of the bullpens between the Waves and Pilgrims between the eighth and fourteenth innings. For the Waves, Applin, Dennis, George Capen (Holy Cross), and Johnny Amendola (Northeastern) all rose to the occasion, allowing just two hits over nine innings while striking out ten batters. Meanwhile, the Pilgrims relied on the work of Ryan Johnson (Bryant), Kevin Plant (Eckerd), and Andy Honiotes (Miami FL) to keep the Waves at bay.
Following 2.2 strong innings from Capen, a stretch in which he struck out three batters, the Waves turned to Amendola, who started against the Pilgrims three days before, in the bottom of the thirteenth. Smith led off the inning with a single, while Rooker walked to get two on with no outs. After Alvarez sacrificed himself on a bunt attempt, Amendola intentionally walked James Venuto (Elon) to load the bases. Amendola proceeded to work two straight full counts against Joe Freiday (Virginia Tech) and Giesel; however, Amendola had the last laugh, as he struck out Freiday and Giesel to force the fourteenth inning.
In the top of the fourteenth, the Waves came to life against Honiotes. Dawson led off the inning by corralling a single off the end of the bat; however, Dawson had to leave the game due to back tightness, leading to Dom Veltri (Belmont) coming on as a pinch-runner. Blanton moved Veltri over on a single, setting things up for Dylan Burdeaux (Southern Mississippi). Burdeaux drilled a single into left field, bringing home Veltri and a hustling Blanton to put the Waves ahead by two runs. When the Pilgrims tried to intentionally walk Chuckie Robinson (Southern Mississippi), Burdeaux attempted to steal third. Koch threw the ball over the head of Alvarez at third, enabling Burdeaux to score and give the Waves the 6-3 lead.
With a newfound offensive cushion, Amendola cruised through the bottom of the fourteenth inning. Amendola put the cherry on top of his stellar relief performance by getting Larsen to ground out to Palomaki at short, securing the 6-3 victory for the Waves.
Ocean State snapped a three-game losing skid in extra-inning games, improving their overall record to 18-16 on the summer. The win keeps the Waves in third place in the NECBL Southern Division, as the Waves sit two games behind the Schooners for second place, all while maintaining a one-game lead over the Bay Sox for third. The Waves also finished their regular season series with the Pilgrims, splitting the season series at three games apiece.
The Waves return to Old Mountain Field on Saturday with a doubleheader against the Danbury Westerners. Blaise Whitman (Rhode Island) will start Game One, while Veltri makes the start Game Two. Tune in online as Tim Scott and Darren Zaslau bring you the call on the NECBL Broadcast Network. Game One is set to begin at 4:05, with Game Two slated to start thirty minutes after the first game's conclusion.
Be sure to like the Ocean State Waves on Facebook, follow them on Twitter (@OceanStateWaves) and Instagram (OceanStateWaves), or visit them online at OceanStateWaves.com.
Images from this story
 Forges Field, Home of the Plymouth Pilgrims (Ocean State Waves) |
New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from July 25, 2015
- Mountaineers lose to Bay Sox 4-1 - Vermont Mountaineers
- Swamp Bats lose 2-0 to Muskrats in a Pitchers' Duel - Keene Swamp Bats
- The Gulls came back to beat Vermont 8-6 - Newport Gulls
- Waves outlast Pilgrims, 6-3 - Ocean State Waves
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