COBLESKILL BASEBALL STAGES 7TH INNING COMEBACK TO SPLIT WITH SCC

After dropping the opening game of a Mountain Valley Conference doubleheader to visiting Schenectady Community College by a 5-2 margin things looked bleak in the nightcap as the SUNY Cobleskill baseball team had seen a 4-1 top-of-the seventh inning lead turned into a 5-4 deficit entering the bottom of the frame. It was then that the Fighting Tigers pounced on the Royals to turn defeat into victory moving their overall record to 10-12 on the year with a 7-1 mark in league and NJCAA Region III play.

Senior catcher Rob Schmalz, Ronkonkoma, NY, Sachem High School, led off with a seeing eye single up-the-middle. Senior speedster Mikhael Wilson, Brooklyn, NY, Edward R. Murrow High School, was inserted as a pinch-runner for Schmalz and advanced to second base on a walk by senior shortstop Ron Smalling, Bellport, NY, Longwood High School. With the Royals looking for a bunt Fighting Tiger Head Coach Bill Makarowski showed his version of “Billy Ball” as the Cobleskill mentor had his team execute a double steal that caught the visitors off guard and left the home team standing on second and third with no outs. After a strikeout, freshman center fielder Ryan Rockefeller, Bolivar, NY, Bolivar-Richburg, worked the count to 3-and-2 and after fouling off several pitches blasted a double over the right fielder’s head to secure the victory.

Senior pitcher Matt Young, Delmar, NY, Bethlehem High School, notched the win on only three days rest going the distance for Cobleskill allowing four earned runs and eight hits in the contest. Young also had a solid game at the plate going 1-for-3 with a triple and a run scored. Ryan Rockefeller provide significant offense from the lead-off spot going 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored as did freshman first baseman John Wallace, Avoca, NY, Avoca High School, who went 1-for-3 with an RBI in the contest.

“We hurt ourselves on the bases and in the field in the first game so coming back to win after giving up a big lead in the seventh of the second game was huge,” said coach Makarowski. “We never gave up in the last inning and our aggressiveness on the bases and our execution is what got us the win. That was a great job by Ryan to hang in and foul off some quality pitches until he got something to drive. I’m not totally pleased with the way we played today but I’m proud of the way we kept our composure and came back in the second game.  This was an important win on a number of levels for us and now we’ve got to get ready for Columbia-Greene tomorrow.”

The Fighting Tigers are scheduled to play seven games over the next five days beginning on Wednesday April 19th when they travel to Hudson, NY to meet Columbia-Greene Community College for a single Mountain Valley Conference game beginning at 4:00 PM.