JOHN CULLEN
Staff Writer
The Fredonia men’s baseball team traveled down the east coast to South Carolina over the weekend where it played four games in Myrtle Beach to start the season.
After losing several one-run games last season, the Blue Devils entered this year with a focus on the little things in an attempt to turn the close games they lost into wins.
This year’s team captains have placed an emphasis on creating a family-like environment within the team. With 10 seniors graduating last year the Fredonia baseball family welcomed several new players to the group.
The opening game of the season saw the Blue Devils take on a tough team from Johnson and Wales University, a game that would ultimately end in dramatic fashion. Fredonia pitching ace Zachary Jordan, a senior, had a terrific night on the mound allowing only two runs over 7 1/3 innings with six strikeouts.
In the ninth inning with the game tied 2-2, the Blue Devils opened with back to back singles from junior second baseman Liam Kelly and freshman Alexio Medina to get the potential winning run on base and in scoring position. Freshman outfielder Kevin Yirinec advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt and during the next at bat Kelly would score on a wild pitch to give Fredonia the lead.
After scoring an insurance run off of a single from junior outfielder James Krolikowski, the Blue Devils entered the bottom of the ninth with a 4-2 lead. Junior transfer Lucas Schaefer pitched a one-two-three inning and was able to secure the win in the opening game for Fredonia.
“Zach had a great game for us, he started throwing strikes early and gave us seven strong inning,” said senior outfielder Quinn Danahy. “With the game on the line we turned to our bullpen and got a clutch performance from Lucas Schaefer, he came in and finished the game for us.”
Fredonia dropped the opening game of Saturday’s doubleheader versus College of Staten Island (CSI) 5-3 despite a strong game from junior second baseman Ciro Frontale. Frontale roped a double in the loss and was able to reach base in all of his four plate appearances.
Freshman pitcher Luke Kuczewski picked up his first collegiate win on the mound striking out six with no walks, and the Blue Devils bounced back in the second game of the day to defeat CSI 7-3 to split the doubleheader.
“It was good to see how our team responded after we lost the first game,” said junior pitcher Zach Lyman. “We had a lot of guys come up big in clutch situations, and it was important for us to show that we have a ‘never give up’ mentality this early in the season.”
As the old saying goes, “save the best for last.” And that was definitely true for the Fredonia baseball team this weekend.
In the fourth and final game of their road trip to Myrtle Beach, the Blue Devils found themselves tied at 5 in the bottom of the ninth inning against John Jay College. Despite being down by four runs late in the game, Fredonia started a rally in the eighth inning to climb to make it a one-run game heading into the ninth.
With their backs against the wall, the Blue Devils knew that this was a perfect opportunity to establish their identity as a team that battles to the very end.
Danahy started the ninth inning with a single, Krolikowski replaced Danahy at first as a pinch runner and made his way to second base on a wild pitch.
The next batter, Medina, was hit by a pitch that put men on first and third with sophomore shortstop Bailey Gauthier coming to the plate. Gauthier delivered a clutch single that drove in the tying run, and Medina was able to steal third and now represented the winning run.
With runners on first and third Fredonia’s Head Coach Matt Palisin made a brilliant coaching decision and signaled to the men on base to execute a leave early play. As the John Jay pitcher got set Gauthier took off from first and forced a throw to second base which resulted in him being caught in a pickle.
Medina waited for the perfect moment as Gauthier darted back and forth between first and second and then took off for home plate. The throw to home plate came in low and Medina executed a beautiful head first slide to beat the tag. As he crossed home plate to win the game the Fredonia bench erupted, charging onto the field to celebrate the dramatic finish that won the game for the Blue Devils.
“[It was a] great overall weekend for our team starting the 2016 campaign off strong. We had huge contributions from different players each game and our pitching and defense did their jobs,” said Assistant Coach Nolan Driscoll. “We are very excited to see where the season is headed and hopefully we can take the momentum from our walk off victory into Wednesday when we play against RIT.”
On Wednesday the Blue Devils will look to continue their strong start when they travel to Houghton College where they will take on the Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers and then travel to Allegheny College on Saturday.