LITTLE FALLS, NY – The errors came early and often in Sunday night’s game between the Geneva Red Wings and the Mohawk Valley Diamond Dawgs.
It would hurt the home team a little more, however, as the four errors by the Diamond Dawgs (the Red Wings committed four as well) resulted in one and a half innings with eight total runs scored in an 8-7 loss on Sunday.
Trevor Rogers (San Francisco State) got the scoring started for the visiting Red Wings just four batters in. Cracking a hot grounder into the right-field gap, Rogers was able to score Brainy Rojas (Wilkes-Barre, PA/East Stroudsburg). Rojas finished 3-5 on the day and was responsible for five of Geneva’s seven runs That would be all starter Vincent Vitacco (Staten Island, NY/Rider) would give up, however, striking out the next two Red Wings in the top of the first to get out of the first-and-second jam.
Nick Cimillo (Airmont, NY/Manhattan) got that run back in just three pitches in the second, smashing a ball into the adjoining Little League field at Veteran’s Memorial Park.
Rojas got another chance to take the lead on a wild pitch from Vitacco and a close play at the plate, and he would do so to give the Red Wings a 2-1 lead. An error on a high fly ball by third baseman Kyle Johnson (Jackson, NJ/Rider) scored Rojas once again in the fifth to extend the lead to two. The errors would get to the Red Wings as well in the sixth. Back-to-back errors would bring home Joseph Carpenter (Cornwall, PA/Delaware) on the second one, on a ball from Dylan Klock (St. Johnsville, NY/St. Thomas Aquinas).
Rojas would do even more damage in the seventh, reaching on the Diamond Dawgs’ third error of the night. He’d come around and score on a fielder’s choice by Rogers.
Klock, trying to match Rojas, tied up the score with a rocket off his bat to deep right field that would score Johnson and Jake Barbiere (Randolph, NJ/Rider). Not to be outdone in the eighth, Kyle Maurice hit a comeback ball to center field that would bring Klock home and score the go-ahead run. Before that pitch, Klock had been 0-for-three on the night but had reached base every time on errors.
Rojas would come home once more, on an RBI single by Rogers for the third time in the game in the ninth. Then, Kross Grundy put someone else other than Rojas on the score sheet, with an RBI single to score Rogers. The error bug would come back to bite the Diamond Dawgs again on the next batter as Alexander Gow (Kentfield, CA/Kenyon) came around to score on a wild pitch.
The errors would continue in the bottom of the inning, as a wild pitch by Jacob Maser would score Drew Fureno (Canajoharie, NY/LeMoyne). But that would be all Maser would give up, as he would force only one baserunner to pick up the win for Geneva (1-1). Kyler Pelfrey (Adairsville, GA/Georgia College) picked up the loss for Mohawk Valley (2-1).
The Diamond Dawgs will have a day off on Monday before heading off to Murnane Field to face the Utica Blue Sox on Tuesday, in front of another day off on Wednesday. The Red Wings will have another off day Monday