DI-Graham 11 DI-Bunting 10
Maxx Countryman (Avon) delivered a pair of hits during pivotal rallies, and DI-Graham erased a seven-run deficit en route to a walk-off win in Upstate Baseball League action from Towers Field on the campus of the University of Rochester, Wednesday night. Trailing 8-1 in the fourth, Countryman led with a base hit up the middle to spark a two-run inning. The shortstop/third baseman doubled home a run in a two-run sixth as DI-Graham cut the margin to two at 8-6, and he drove in a run when he received one of six free passes in a five-run seventh. Ryan Hill (Webster Thomas) scored twice including the game-winner when he scampered home on a wild pitch. Hill retired the only batter he faced for the win. Alex Savory (Sodus) finished 2-for-3 with a towering a triple to right center and two runs scored. Alex Vogt (Webster Schroeder) struck out two and walked two over 2.1 scoreless innings in relief. Racer Lynch (Geneva) paced the DI-Bunting offense going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. Max Yale (Honeoye) scored two runs. Lucas DeVito (Newark) highlighted a seven-run DI-Bunting first with a bases-loaded bunt single.

DI-Christiano 8 DI-Wiktorski 5
Will Porter (Irondequoit) collected a hit, two walks and two RBI as DI-Christiano rallied from three down for their first win of the season. Porter drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in a two-run sixth and added another RBI in four-run seventh with a bases-loaded walk. Tommy Baxter (Webster Schroeder) walked twice and scored twice. Nate Sanderson (Rush-Henrietta) picked up the win. The left-hander struck out two, walked two and allowed one run on one hit over two innings. Sanderson retired six of the last seven batters he faced. DI-Wiktorski’s Anthony Roides started and tossed a pair of scoreless frames before allowing a run in the third. The left-hander struck out four over three innings. John Gassler (Pittsford Sutherland) took the ball to start for DI-Christiano and struck out three over two scoreless to start the game. The left-hander ran into trouble in the third. Ray Specht (Rush-Henrietta) paced the DI-Wiktorski offense going 2-for-3 with two RBI. Ben Cowles (Newark) made it a 4-1 game in the fourth with a two-out RBI single. The DI-Wiktorski infielder fought off a pair of two-strike pitches before taking a slider low and away into left center to plate Gavin Moore (Hilton).

Pitching To Contact: When it comes to pitching lines, Joey Kench’s (Rush-Henrietta) Wednesday night numbers were forgettable. The usually dependable reliever, whose pre-pitch movement and varied deliveries give a nod to former major leaguer Mark Fidrych, helped the Royal Comets to a Class AA finals appearance this spring. Against DI-Graham he surrendered five runs on seven hits. But he made economical use of his pitches. He came on in the fourth and surrendered singles to the first three batters he faced before getting a fly ball for a sacrifice and then a run-scoring ground out. The inning ended with Amaury Samalot (Churchville-Chili) gunning down a would-be base stealer. All told Kench allowed two runs on three hits, faced six batters and…get this threw just eight (8) pitches.

About Face: Monday night Racer Lynch (Geneva) went o-for-3 with three strike outs and looked a tad overwhelmed. Wednesday night? The string bean of an infielder paced the DI-Bunting offense going 2-for-3 with a run scored. In his only out of the evening he drove in a run for three quality at-bats. He also snared a shot at the hot corner.

Alex Casts His Vogt: Eight pitchers toed the rubber in the night’s opener between DI-Bunting and DI-Graham. Only two of those pitchers escaped unscathed. One was Ryan Hill who retired the only batter he faced. The other Alex Vogt (yes, pronounced like the civic duty United States citizens perform) tossed 2.1 scoreless to help DI-Graham navigate the aforementioned stormy waters. Vogt also collected two RBI with a sacrifice fly and a run-scoring ground out.

Defensive Gems: Tyler Holmes (Fairport), Zeke Humphrey (Charles Finney) and Andrew Sanchez (Rush-Henrietta) gunned down would-be base stealers from behind the plate. Casey Saucke (Greece Athena) inhales ground balls like a vacuum cleaner drawing tufts of hair strewn across the floor from a shedding Labrador Retriever. Would be remiss to not mention the play of Jarod Signorelli (Victor) who climbed the ladder at second base Monday night to take away a hit.