Williams Walks-Off To End 13 Innings
CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. – The Finger Lakes Community College Baseball team finished their series with the Onondaga Community College Lazers yesterday. The Lakers won the first game of the double-header 5-1. Their second game of the day was closer, having to go into 13 innings. They ended the final game with a walk-off, winning 5-4.
Game One
The Lakers had just come off of a double-header against the Lazers on Saturday. They were ready to play again at home.
The scoring did not start until the bottom of the third inning with the Lakers hitting. Nick Stein lead off the inning hitting a double. Stein then stole third, placing him in a great spot for Tanner Cooper. Cooper hit an RBI single to score Stein, and put himself on first. Chris Gresham was up next and singled, moving Cooper to second. A sacrifice bunt from Al Xapsos would put both Cooper and Gresham in scoring position for Jarrod Williams. Williams hit an RBI single to score Cooper, and put Gresham on third. The scoring ended this inning in Gresham coming home on a wild pitch.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Omar Rosa lead of the Lakers. He started the inning with a single. He would then steal second, and on the overthrow, advanced to third. Cooper came up two batters later, and walked, putting runners on first and third. Cooper then advanced to second on a ground out by Gresham. Both runners scored when Xapsos came up and hit a two RBI single.
The Lazers scored their run in the top of the seventh inning. Cole Cotton lead off the inning reaching first, then advancing to second on an error. Ty Abell would come up soon after and hit an RBI single to score the Lazers' only run of the game.
Game leaders for the Lakers were Rosa going 2-3, scoring one run, Stein going 1-4, scoring one run, and hitting a double, Cooper going 2-3, scoring two runs with one RBI, Williams going 1-3 with one RBI, and Xapsos going 2-3, with two RBI's. Chris Wagner pitched the win.
Game Two
After losing three in a row to the Lakers, the Lazers were ready to fight back.
In the bottom of the first inning, Rosa reached first on a dropped third strike. He would then advance to second after Stein was hit by a pitch. Cooper flew out to right field, placing runners on third and second. The first run of the game would score due to a sacrifice fly to left field from Gresham, that scored Rosa.
The Lazers answered right back in the top of the second inning. Cotton would start this one with a triple. Mitchell Taylor came up next with a sacrifice fly to right field, that scored Cotton. This would finish the scoring for the second inning.
It wasn't until the bottom of the fifth inning that scoring started up again. Rosa lead off getting hit by a pitch. He would then advance to second on a wild pitch. With two outs, Gresham hit an RBI single that scored Rosa from second. This put the Lakers back in the lead.
The Lazers answered right back again. It started with Ryan Gloyns walking to first. He stole second soon after. Justin Bristol hit one to left field that was just out of reach of Xapsos, that turned into an RBI triple, scoring Gloyns. Jesse Kabat came up right after, hitting into a fielder's choice, that scored Bristol. The Lazers found the lead they were looking for.
In their last chance in regulation play, the Lakers managed to keep the game rolling. On one out, Cooper singled, putting the tying run on base. He would advance to second on a passed ball. This put him in scoring position for Gresham. Gresham used his opportunity and hit an RBI single, scoring Cooper. The score was tied. After a close play at the plate, the game would move on to extra innings.
Both teams were evenly matched, not allowing any runs to score until the 13th inning. It started at the top of the inning. Parker Wing lead off the inning with a walk. After a sacrifice bunt, he moved over to second in scoring position. It was Kabat who would hit the RBI single to finally put a run on the board, and score Wing. This put them in the lead going into the bottom of the 13th.
The Lakers were ready for the challenge. They were put in a great position to take the lead right off the bat. Stein lead off the inning getting hit by a pitch. They now had the tying run on base. After a quick change of Alex Fetter pinch running for Stein, Cooper singled. This moved Fetter to second. The tying, and now winning run were on base. Aaron Shoemaker came in to pinch hit. The Lazers threw a passed ball, that now put both runners in scoring position. Shoemaker came up big with a hit in the hole between the shortstop and the third baseman, scoring Fetter from third. Now the winning run was on third base. Xapsos came up with a single, moving Shoemaker over to second, Cooper stayed at third. Williams came up for his final at bat of the game. He hit a shot in the gap between center and left field, that easily scored Cooper from third. Williams ended this exciting game in an even more exciting fashion, a walk-off single.
Game leaders for the Lakers were Lukas Haefner going 1 for 5 with a double, Gresham going 2-3, with 3 RBI's, and Williams going 2-4, with the winning RBI. Paul Morgan, who came in to pitch in the 11th inning, would get the win, and get 2 strikeouts.
The Lakers will play again on Tuesday, April 9th. They will play the Genesee Community College Cougars at home at 2:00pm and 4:00pm.