DANSVILLE — While it may go down as a loss, the first game in the history of the Salamanca Lizards franchise is in the books.
Having fallen 8-3 in its NYCBL debut on June 6, the Lizards out-hit the Dansville Gliders, but were unable to see those runners come across. A late flurry that saw three runs put up on the board in the top of the eighth inning were not enough as the Dansville bats took no time to ease into the season.
The Gliders scored four runs in the first inning and received contributions from several batters overall with five players having combined for their six total hits.
Ryan Kinney (Alfred State College) was the first pitcher to take the mound in Lizards history. He lasted five innings and gave up five hits and six runs, striking out four and walking eight.
While Dansville scored two more runs after Kinney’s exit, Zaron Tucker (Jamestown Community College) and Calvin Rogers (SUNY Brockport) allowed zero earned runs in relief.
Salamanca also saw several batters tally a hit, as six batters combined for the team’s seven total hits. Howie Stuckey III (Canisius College) was the only Lizard with multiple hits on the day as he went 2-for-4 with a run to his name as well.
In a day of firsts, Tyler Curtis (SUNY Fredonia) gave the Lizards their first home run in team history with a two-run jack, representing his lone hit on the day.
Olean 14, Salamanca 2SALAMANCA — The Salamanca Lizards only managed to rack up three hits in their June 8 loss to the Olean Oilers in the latter’s first game of the summer 2024 campaign.
The Oilers got the best of Salamanca pitcher Josh Martos (Jamestown Community College), scoring four runs in the top of the opening frame. He gave up another four runs on a total of seven hits in just over four-inning’s work. Martos left the mound with two strikeouts and eight walks.
The pitching change seemed to right the ship initially, with Santino Musone (Jamestown Community College) having prevented any more damage in the fifth and blanking the Oilers in the sixth. Despite not giving up a single hit in just over three innings, Musone was replaced after recording three strikeouts and walking another four batters.
Lucas Marsh (Jamestown Community College) was unable to stop the Lizards’ trend of walks, recording another four and bringing the team’s total to 16 on the day compared to six strikeouts.
Unfortunately for the Lizards, the offense was unable to produce much either, tallying just three hits in total. The Oilers got a strong five-inning performance out of starting pitcher Alec Greenblatt who allowed just one earned run, struck out three and walked one.
Tyler Curtis (SUNY Fredonia) led the bats for Salamanca with two hits and a run. Connor Booth (Clarion University) and Timothy Johnson (Jamestown Community College) recorded an RBI apiece.
Horseheads 21, Salamanca 5Salamanca 11, Horseheads 4HORSEHEADS — For the first time in franchise history, the Salamanca Lizards have put a tally in the win column after splitting its double-header with the Horseheads Hitmen on June 9.
Falling in the first game, the Hitmen jumped on Lizards pitcher Brad Alexander (St Michael’s College) in his first start for the team, recording 10 hits and scoring 16 runs in under four innings.
Compounding the issue was the fact that the Salamanca bats were unable to respond in that time either, scoring its first run in the top of the fifth inning. Of the five hits that the Lizards were able to rack up in the first game, Connor Booth (Clarion University) led the way as he went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run. He also tallied the only extra-base hit for Salamanca. Anthony Snyder (Alfred State College) went 1-for-2 in the loss with two RBI.
However, Salamanca was able to shake off the heavy defeat and respond in a big way, to take Game 2 by seven runs.
Highlighting the performances from the Lizards’ first-ever win as a team was that of Kade Cochran (SUNY Brockport) who pitched the full five innings, allowing only five hits and three earned runs in the process.
As a team, the Lizards saw the ball much better as the offense was led by a 2-for-3, five RBI, two run performance by Andrew Hartman. One of his two hits cleared the fences for a home run. Getting in on the action was Maxwell Rogers (University of Pittsburgh at Bradford) who went 2-for-2 with two runs and a homer as well.
Snyder made it a combined five RBI over both games against the Hitmen with a 2-for-3, three RBI, two run stat line in the win.
Timothy Johnson (Jamestown Community College) also went 1-for-1 with two RBI and two runs for Salamanca.
“I’m very excited for the boys, their hard work is paying off,” Lizards coach Jerico Weitzel said. “Kade Cochran gave us a really good pitching performance and we got contributions from everyone in the lineup. This is an awesome moment for our franchise and hopefully something we can build off of moving forward.”
