Geneva Red Wings News & Notes

Wings salvage triple header with extra inning win

BillS — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 05:33:07 +0000

The Red Wings played three games yesterday against the two teams they are battling with for the last playoff spot, and after the nights results, the squad still has a fighting chance.
The day started with a double header against Alfred. The first game was a continuation of a game that was suspended due to thunder back in June. The game resumed in the bottom of the 7th inning with Alfred ahead 8-4 and the bags packed with no one out. The Thunder quickly stretched their lead on a sacrifice fly by Jonathan Jurinko and a two run double by Taylor Kaprieve to make the score 11-4.
Geneva got three back in the 8th when Brantley Miller and Dan Gliot were hit by pitches with the bases loaded. Marcus Way chipped in with a sac fly to the left field warning track that cut the Alfred lead to 11-7.
But that’s as close as the Red Wings would get. Andrew Crisman slammed the door with a three up three down ninth and the Thunder won 11-7.
Sole possession of fifth place in the West Division was on the line in game two, and Alfred kept its momentum from game 1, seizing an early lead.
Jay Olson and Yogi Vannaman led off the bottom of the second inning with back to back singles and Zach Buckler walked to load the bases for Matthew O’Neil. O’Neil scored Olson and Vannaman with a single to center to break a scoreless tie. The Thunder tacked on one more in the second on Justin Fahy’s RBI single.
Alfred added to its lead in the fourth when O’Neil scored on a suicide squeeze by Fahy.
Geneva finally got on the board in the top of the 7th. Skylar Barnett’s sacrifice fly scored Marcus Way and Matt Ray came home on a passed ball making the score 4-2 Alfred.
As quickly as the Red Wings got back into the game, Alfred answered with three of their own in the bottom of the frame. The big hits in the inning were RBI singles from Jurinko and Bryan Lucas.
The teams traded runs in the 8th, but it was not enough for Geneva as they fell 9-4.
That set up a pivotal night cap for the Wings against the Hornell Dodgers. Geneva entered a game behind Hornell and a loss would have all but eliminated the squad from playoff contention.
It looked bad early for Geneva. Hornell took a 1-0 lead on Tony Micklon’s first inning RBI single and led 3-1 heading to the ninth. With their backs against the wall, the Red Wings came to life. Skylar Barnett walked and Max Casper singled. With runners on first and second, Kevin Stephen’s ripped a two out pinch hit double of the wall in right center that brought home both Barnett and Casper to knot things up at 3.
The game was still tied in the bottom of the tenth when Red Wings left fielder Cory Betterson saved the game for the Wings with a diving grab that robbed Adam McFarland of a game winning single.
Geneva capitalized on that momentum in the 11th. Matt Ray led off with a walk and moved to second on a bunt by Barnett. Casper followed with a walk and then Paul Bello drove in Ray with a single to give the Red Wings their first lead of the ball game. Dan Gliot added to the lead with a double to left that scored Casper and Bello. Gliot made the score 7-3 when he scored on a passed ball.
Marcus Way pitched a perfect bottom of the 11th for the Wings as they picked up a huge win. Geneva currently sits a half game behind Alfred for the fourth and final playoff spot with three games remaining.

Wings Beat 1st Place Elmira

BillS — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 00:50:01 +0000

Dan Gliot’s 7th inning single broke a 2-2 tie as the Red Wings went on to beat first place Elmira 4-2 at McDonough Park on the eve of tomorrow’s season defining triple header.
Elmira, which had clinched a playoff spot on Saturday, entered the game on fire. The Pioneers had won ten out of their last twelve games. But it was Geneva who got on the board first. Kyle Kalaka led off the second inning with a walk and then Max Casper collected his first extra base hit of the season with a double to right center putting runners on second and third. With one out, Paul Moreno brought them both home with a base hit up the middle to give the Red Wings a 2-0 lead. “Paulie Moreno came up clutch for us,” said manager Dave Herbst.
Elmira tacked on a run in the second inning when Justin Lambourn capped off a stretch of three straight singles off Red Wings starter Casey Rana, bringing home Cory Keller with the Pioneers first run.
Elmira tacked on one more run in the 6th, but aside from that, Rana was brilliant. Facing the NYCBL West Division’s top offense, he scattered just five hits over six innings, while striking out five Pioneers. Rana credited his success to a good game plan, “I started off speed to get them fishing for things,” said Rana. “(catcher) Kyle Kalaka called a great game.”
After 6 innings the Red Wings turned the ball over to relievers James Heine and Ryan Kassab who combined to allow just two base runners in three scoreless frames.
Heine was credited with the win after the Red Wings took the lead for good in the 7th. Casper started the inning off with a single through the left side of the Pioneer’s infield and moved to second on a sac bunt by Paul Speicher. Paul Bello followed with his second hit of the game which put runners on the corner for Gliot. The reigning NYCBL West Division Offensive Player of the Week ripped a run scoring single up the middle scoring Casper to break the tie. The Wings scored one more when Bello’s hook slide allowed him to avoid catcher Ryan Ferguson’s tag on Marcus Way’s ground ball.
After that, Kassab shut the door on the Pioneers allowing just a one out walk in the 9th to pick up his sixth save of the season.
The 4-2 win was huge for the Red Wing’s as they entered the night just a half game behind Hornell for the 4th and final playoff spot, tied for 5th with Alfred. The Red Wings take on Alfred for two games tomorrow and a nightcap at Hornell completes the triple header. “It’s going to be a tough day for us,” said Herbst. “But we are really focused to get some big wins.”

Wings drop heartbreaker

BillS — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 03:45:23 +0000

In front of its largest home crowd this season, the Red Wings fell to the Webster Yankees 7-2 in 13 innings. The game was tied at 2 from the 7th inning untila 5 run 13th sparked the Yankees to the win. Webster scored its third run of the bal game on a wild pitch, and then tacked on some extra runs on two out hits by Monty Marracco and Matt Francis. Jeremy Miller doubled and scored for the Red Wings, while Eric Schweiger tossed 7 innings of 1 run ball.

Red Wings Fall to Power

BillS — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 03:19:08 +0000

Red Wings Fall to Power
One night after scoring 19 runs on 16 hits, The Red Wings bats were silenced by Power starter Sam Moore as Geneva fell to last place Niagara Falls 8-2.
Niagara got to Red Wings starter Boomer Hermes early, using a little two out Magic. After Hermes retired the first two batters of the ball game, Marshall McDonald singled and Jordan Vierra walked. Sam Ofield followed with a hard single to left that brought McDonald home for the first run of the ball game.
Then with two outs in the second, Michael Anthony came home on a wild pitch to make the score 2-0.
Hermes battled control problems throughout his start and wildness got the better of him in the 5th. Hermes walked four batters to lead off the 5th and was lifted for Greg Blanco. Alejandro Cristostomo walked with the bags backed to make the score 3-0 and then Kevin Liddle brought home a run with a sac fly. “There were just way too many walks and too many hitters counts,” said manager Dave Herbst.
Niagara kept tacking it on in the 6th inning. Derek Glenn and Daniel Hall each singled and then Marshall McDonald brought them both home with a single to make the score 6-0.
The Red Wings finally solved Sam Moore in the 6th inning. Cory Betterson led off with a double to left and Matt Ray followed with a walk. Kyle Kalaka brought home Betterson with a double down the left field line and Ray came home on a passed ball. But the Red Wings left two runner in scoring position that inning, bringing their total to 11 for the game. “Tonight we were making easy outs,” said Herbst. “Hitting pop flys with runners on base.”
Niagara tacked on a run in the 7th and 8th and Geneva failed to score again.
It was a tough loss for the Red Wings who entered the night a half game out of the playoffs. “We had been playing well,” said Herbst. “So it stings to come out and fall flat like this.”

Red Wings Win Pitchers’ Duel

BillS — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 00:30:21 +0000

The Red Wings managed just three hits and one unearned run, but Kevin Dooley led Geneva to a 1-0 win over the visiting Hornell Dodgers at McDonough Park.
Dooley was great throughout the night holding Hornell to just three hits through seven and a third innings while striking out eight Dodgers. “My changeup was really working today,” Dooley said. “That’s how I got a lot of my strikeouts.”
On the other side, Blake Gallagher threw a gem in his own right. He tossed 8 strong innings allowing just three hits and one unearned run.
That unearned run came all the way back in the third inning, when defensive miscues came back to haunt Hornell. Brantley Miller got things going with a one out single and Dan Gliot reached on a bunt single down the line. Gallagher walked Marcus Way to load the bases, but then got Kevin Stephens to fly out to shallow left, bringing Andy Mix to the plate with two outs. Mix rolled a slow grounder to short, but Raymond Fuentes throw pulled first baseman Joe Lombardi off the bag and allowed Miller to score.
After that Gallagher was almost perfect, striking out 8 Red Wing batters and retiring the last 14 batters he faced. “He seemed to get stronger as the game went on,” said Geneva manager Dave Herbst.
But while Gallagher was cruising on one side, the Dodger offense missed opportunities on the other. Hornell loaded the bags in the third, before Dooley induced three hole hitter Tony Micklon to ground into an inning ending double play. Again Hornell had runners on the corners in the 5th, but this time Dooley struck out Micklon to end that threat. In the 7th Dooley got Derek Speaker swinging with two outs and a runner on third to end that threat. Finally in the 8th, after Dooley had given way to reliever Greg Blanco , Joe Lombardi lined into a double play and with runners on first and second to end the threat. “I was just confident in my pitches and wanted to make Hornell put the ball in play,” said Dooley. “My fielders helped me out today.”
The defense came up with one more defensive jam in the ninth. With closer Ryan Kassab on the mound, one out, and Nate Chong on first, Dane Frazier grounded into a 1-6-3 double play to end the game.
This game was huge for the Red Wings who now sit a half game behind Alfred for the final playoff spot in the West division. “It was a great way to start a home stretch,” said Herbst.

Geneva Wins in Comeback Fashion

BillS — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 03:39:19 +0000

The Geneva Red Wings scored three runs in the bottom of the eight inning to defeat the visitng Alleghany County Nitros 8-5. The hot streak continues for Dan Gilot as he went 4-5 at the plate. Gilot’s biggest hit of the night came in the eighth inning as he ripped a triple off the walk unloading the bases for the Red Wings. Red Wing pitcher Julian Diaz was credited with the win as Mike Hester was credited with the loss for the Nitros. Red Wing pitcher Ryan Kassab came in to close the door in the ninth inning. The Red Wings will be back tomorrow as they take on Alfred in a doubleheader at McDonugh Park beginning at 5pm.

Red Wings Split Double Header

BillS — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 06:00:09 +0000

Dan Gliot went 8 for 10 over the double header as the Red Wings split two games with the Niagara Power. Geneva won the first game 6-5 and lost the second 7-6.

Both games were scheduled for seven innings, but the teams needed to play nine to decide each contest.

In game number one, Geneva needed to come through with a late comeback. Niagara scored once in the fifth on a Daniel Hall sacrifice fly and twice in the 5th thanks in part to an untimely error by the Red Wings defense to build a 3-1 lead.

It was still 3-1 in the 7th, but with Geneva down to its last out, Gliot came up with a clutch single, his third hit of the game, scoring Paul Bello and Andy Mix to knot things up at 3.

“I was just looking for a good fastball to hit over the plate,” said Gliot. “I just wanted to get a good piece of the ball, and I barreled up on it.”

The teams went scoreless in the 8th, but the Wings grabbed the lead for good in the top of the ninth. After Max Casper led off with a single, moved to second on Matt Ray’s base knock and advanced to third on a single by Brantley Miller, Gliot scored him with a sacrifice fly to right. Kevin Stephens hit into a fielder’s choice with one out, but alert base running by Miller allowed both him and Ray to score, giving the Red Wings a 6-3 lead.

Julian Diaz allowed two unearned runs in the bottom of the ninth, but he struck out Jordan Vierra with two men on to end the ball game and give the Wings their third straight win.

In game two, Gliot led the offense as Geneva built an early lead. Gliot drove in a run and scored a run in the third as the Red Wings tallied four runs in the frame to take a 4-2 lead. Then he drove Miller home with a double in the 4th and the Red Wings lead 5-2.

Gliot was 5-5 in game two and over the double header he drove in six runs. “I was seeing the ball well and I had a really good approach,” said Gliot. “Approach really helped today and I just hit the ball on the barrel.”

With a three run lead through four innings, the Wings looked well on their way to their second consecutive double header sweep, but the Power answered in the 5th. Niagara pounded out four hits in the frame and walked twice scoring 4 runs and building a 6-5 lead.
Gliot brought the Wings back once more when he drove in Casper with an RBI single in the 6th.

The teams traded scoreless frames across the next couple innings, but this game, the Power controlled the ninth.

Kevin Liddle took a one out fastball from Red Wings reliever Nick Cappuccilli, who was in his third inning of work, and drove it down the left field line for a single bringing home Ware Hart to win the ball game 7-6.

With the split, Geneva improved to 12-15 on the season, but the nightcap loss left the Wings thinking about what could have been. “We’re a little disappointed after the second game,” said Gliot. “We battled the whole day and we’ll take it into tomorrow.”

Red Wings Sweep Double Header

BillS — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 02:36:55 +0000

Geneva snapped out of a five game losing streak in a big way- sweeping the double header against the Webster Yankees.
Brantley Miller’s walk off single gave the Red Wings a 4-3 win in game one and then Kevin Dooley’s complete game led Geneva to a 2-1 game two win.
Both games were scheduled for seven innings, but it would take the Red Wings nine to win game one.
Geneva starter Ryan Fennel struggled with command early in game one, but was able to battle through it to allow just one run on five hits over 5 innings. That run came home in the second inning when Fennel walked Wes Winkle with the bases loaded.
The score remained 1-0 until the bottom of the 5th, when the Red Wings finally solved Yankee starter GC Yerry. Cory Betterson walked for the second time in the ball game to lead things off. Kyle Kalaka singled with one out to put runners on the corners and then Adam Stacy was hit by a pitch to load the bases. With two outs and the bases loaded, Brantley Miller ripped a single to left driving in Betterson and Kalaka to give the Red Wings a 2-1 lead.
Webster came right back in the top of the 6th. Matt Delewski led off with a single, Matt Francis reached on an error, and Matt Boulter singled in Delewski to knot things up at 2. With two outs, and Boulter standing on third, catcher Ollie Bertrand ripped a single to left center field scoring Boulter and giving the Yankees a 3-2 lead.
It stayed that way until the seventh when Betterson walked for the third time against Yerry. He then tied up the game with his legs stealing second, advancing to third on an errant throw by Bertrand and scoring on an overthrow by center fielder Tyler Grogg. With the game knotted up the Wings were looking for the win. Geneva loaded the bases with nobody out, but Webster closer Tim Johnson got three straight outs to send the game to extra innings.
After the teams traded zero’s in the eighth, Max Casper got himself in scoring position with one out and Brantley Miller digging in. Miller drove a 1-0 fastball through the hole between short and third and Casper beat the throw home for the win.
“It felt good to finally help out our pitchers,” said Miller. “It’s a huge momentum swing for us to get out of the L column.”
So game one belonged to the Red Wings bats, but game two was all about Geneva starter Kevin Dooley. The lefty out of the University of Pittsburgh saw an opportunity to keep Webster down and came out throwing strikes. “We had a lot of momentum because of that game one win. I could see (Webster) was down from the start.”
Throughout the game Dooley worked quickly mixing his fastball and cutter and inducing 14 ground ball outs. Dooley said when he gets ground balls it’s always a good sign. “It means I’m working down. I always try and get my defense the ball. That means they’ll work with me.”
Dooley allowed just one run, when Delewski scored on a Wexler groundball in the 6th.
While Dooley was cruising, the Red Wings offense picked up just enough runs. Matt Ray drove in Dan Gliot with a single to right in the first and Paul Moreno brought Gliot home again in the third when he was plunked with the bases loaded.
The rest was up to Dooley who took the mound in the 7th and final inning and fittingly retired the side on three straight ground balls to give the Red Wings a 2-1 victory.
The two game sweep improves the Red Wings to 11-14 and Manager Dave Herbst said going into the all star break these wins were huge for team morale. “The guys are excited to get back Tuesday. It was an important series for us.”

Nitros Clip Wings

BillS — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 04:17:45 +0000

The Red Wings pounded out nine hits, but struggled in clutch situations as they fell to the Nitros 4-3.
Allegany County scored early against Geneva starter Boomer Hermes. Nick Barbalato singled to lead things off in the bottom of the first. He advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Jake Kowell and scored on a sacrifice fly by Tyler Fisher.
The Red Wings answered in the top of the second inning with a two out rally. Max Casper singled to right and moved to third on a single by Paul Speicher. Casper came into score on a single by Paul Moreno, but Speicher was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.
Allegany County came right back with a run of their own in the bottom of the second. Ryan Dimascio worked a walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Barbalato brought him home with a single to left giving the Nitros a 2-1 lead.
Allegany County stretched its lead in the 3rd. Vinnie Malzahan and Anthony Genna got the offense in motion with walks. Alex Baldock followed with a single that drove in Malzahan. Genna would make the score 4-1 when he came home on a sacrifice fly by Marquardt.
The Red Wings got one back in the top of the 4th when Casper scored again. This time on a sacrifice bunt by Paul Moreno.
James Heine entered the game on the mound for Geneva in the 5th. Heine was effective throughout tossing four scoreless innings allowing only one hit. Coach Ross Trachtenberg said, “James did a great job keeping us in the game and giving us a chance to win in the end.”
With Heine holding the Nitro lead at 2, the Red Wings eked closer in the top of the 6th. Skylark Barnett led off with a ground rule double and moved to third on Casper’s third hit of the ball game. Paul Bello drove Barnett home when his hard hit ground ball ricocheted off of third baseman Jake Kowell.
From there the Red Wings would go scoreless. Richard Hester tossed one and a third scoreless innings to get the save. It looked like Geneva would knot things up in the ninth when Bello led off with a walk, but Hester induced a double play and picked up a strike out to end the ball game.
The loss was the third straight for the Red Wings, who fall to 9-12 on the season.

Geneva defeats Webster 5-2

BillS — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 03:21:21 +0000

The Geneva Red Wings brought their record back to the five hundred mark on the year (9-9) as they defeated the Webster Yankees 5-2 at McDonough Park in Geneva. Kyle Shaw pitched eight strong innings for the Red Wings allowing one run and striking out eight. The Yankees got on the board first as Blake Beemer hit into a fielder’s choice giving the runner on third Ollie Bertand enough time to cross the plate. The Red Wings answered back in the bottom of the third inning as Dan Gilot smashed a triple off the left wall scoring Paul Moreno and Brantley Miller. Kevin Stephens followed with an RBI single driving in Gilot from third. The Red Wings picked up two runs in the fifth on hits by shortstop Max Casper and third baseman Marcus Way. The Yankees picked up one run in the ninth on a Marcus Way error but Red Wing pitcher Julian Diaz was able to end the game as he struck out Yankee Matt Francis with the bases loaded and 2 outs in the ninth. Kyle Shaw earned his third win of the season while Webster Yankee pitcher Jason Gardner moves to 1-1 on the year. The Red Wings’ next game is July 4th on the road versus the Elmira Pioneers while the Webster Yankees will be playing the Allegany County Nitros tomorrow night.