The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Oneida outslugs Solvay to advance
ONEIDA >> After surrendering an early 4-0 lead, No. 8 seed Oneida rallied to beat No. 9 Solvay 13-9 in the first roundof theSectionIIIClass B baseball playoffs on Tuesday.
Senior JamesDick pitched a complete game for the hosts and helped his own cause at plate, collecting three RBI in the victory at Don Rigabar Field. Teammates Henry Froass and Tucker Rodgers also had strong offensive games, helping pace a balanced Oneida offense that collected 15 hits. Froass picked up two triples, two runs, and two walks, while Rodgers batted in three, hit a double and walked once.
Josh Posnick took the loss for Solvay. Jake Dippold led the way offensively for the Bearcats, smacking a double and triple on the way to driving in four runs.
Oneida wasted no time putting runs on the scoreboard, plating four in the first inning. Lukas Albro andTannerWilliams started the inningwith back-to-back singles before Dick roped a double to fence to score Albro. Williams would score on a Ryan Chevier sacrifice fly to give Oneida a 2-0 lead. Froass followed with a triple, catching a bit of for- tune when the Solvay center fielder tripped while chasing down the deep shot, to score Dick. ADanMyatt singleplatedFroass tobringthe tally to 4-0 before Posnick escaped the inning.
Solvay answered right back in the top of the second inning. With one out, Zach Chrysler walked and Owen Lansing singled to put runners on first and second. Then, Oneida failed to convert on either end of a double play when Alex Britton grounded one to short. After the dust had settled, Solvay had loaded the bases, still with one out. With the bases loaded Posnick singled Chrysler and Lansing home to bring the score to 4-2. The next batter, Joey Gaudagnolo, sent a grounder off of Dick’s glove to load the bases. Dick walked in the third run of the inning, giving Jordan Goldman a free pass before Dippold capped the inning with a bases clearing double to the fence to give Solvay a 6-4 advantage.
Solvaywas only able to enjoy its lead briefly however, as the Oneida bats came roaring back in the bottom of the second.
Albro and Williams set the plate for Dick again, reaching on a single and walk respectively, before the senior sent a seeingeye-single back up the middle to tie the game at 6-6. Oneida again repeated its routine from the first inning when Froass hit his second triple of the day to score Dick as the hosts regained the lead, 7-6. Jorden Barlow followed with a single to drive in Froass. The hosts loaded the bases one more time in the bottom of the second, scoring their final run when Will Merrell was issued a bases loaded walk. At the end of two, Oneida led 9-6.
The hosts would never relinquish the lead again.
“We’ve been saying since Day 1, when we hit the ball we’re going to win ballgames,” Oneida coach Ryan Kramer said. “When we’re swinging it, we’re tough to beat. For a lot of these guys, its their first sectional game. With that said, we rebounded anddid a nice job.”
Oneida tacked on three more runs in the third thanks to a three-run bases clearing double by Rodgers and struck again for a final run in the fourth to give Dick a 13-6 cushion heading into the top of the fifth inning. Solvay would put up two more runs in the fifth and another in the sixth inning, but the visitors’ rally ended there.
With the win, Oneidawill continue on in sectionals and face the winner of the matchup between No. 1 seed Watertown IHC and No. 17 Cazenovia that took place on Wednesday.
Regardless of who Oneida plays next, Kramer said, “We’re taking one game at a time. We believe that we’re good enough to be here, that we’re good enough to win it, but you’ve got to take it one game at a time. We’re going to throw one of our good guys and we’re going to go try win a game.”