The latest Red Wings victory included a colorful array of characteristics in Elmira on Wednesday night.
The Pioneers would jump out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning on a collection of seeing eye singles. The inning was cut short on a double play that saw the latter out be a result of a play at the plate. In total, there were 5 double plays in the contest; three conventional ground ball turns by Elmira, and two not so conventional methods from Geneva. More to come on that.
The starters would settle in after that. Geneva starter Jordan Murphy (UT Dallas) would end up finishing the game with a quality start, hurling 6 innings of 3 run ball with 4 strikeouts. Elmira’s starter Zach Eggers (Old Dominion) would chunk 5 shutout innings against the Wings.
In the top of the 7th, a cat found it’s way onto the warning track of Dunn Field. After riling up the crowd and causing a five minute delay, the cat seemed to be the spark that the Geneva offense needed. Following the creature on the field delay, the Wings scored 6 runs in the frame by courtesy of a hit by pitch, a single, a double, a walk, and two wild pitches (in that order). Justin Barr (Central Alabama C.C.) and Mikey Arman (Kenyon) both had RBI knocks in the inning. Although it isn’t included in the box score, the 7th inning rally has been given credit to the Rally Cat.
The Pioneers answered with two of their own runs in the bottom half of the frame, and would tie the game in the bottom half of the 8th on a wild pitch.
Enter Colby Mullins (1-0, Andrew College), closer for the Red Wings. Mullins earned a 6 out win in Wednesday’s contest, all of which were in high voltage situations. Mullins worked around a shrinking strike zone and a bases loaded situation in the 9th to send the game to extras. Elmira batter Allbry Major (Xavier) would foul off four consecutive full count pitches before being fanned by Mullins.
In the top of the 10th, a sacrifice fly from Matt Collins (Cornell) would score William Simoneit (Cornell) to break the 6-6 tie. The next batter, Matt Chamberlain (New Haven), would single home Trustin Riley (University of Tampa), making the score 8-6. That run would prove to be the difference.
In the bottom of the 10th, Mullins again worked out of a bases loaded situation. He would get Jonathan Crimmin (Siena) to fly out to center and allow the Wings to win a thriller, 8-7. The Wings are now 2-1 on games where they are down entering the 9th inning on the year. They’ll return to action on Thursday night in Amsterdam to take on the Mohawks. On Friday night, they’ll be home to take on the Newark Pilots, and kids are encouraged to run the bases for free after the game.
Long live the rally cat!
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