DANSVILLE — In the final game of their inaugural regular season on July 20, the Salamanca Lizards fell to the Dansville Gliders, following a script they have become all-too familiar with.
While the 5-4 loss is not the way the Lizards may have wanted to end the regular season, in the grand scheme of things, the result did not carry much weight for them, playoffs-wise. Salamanca was locked into the fifth spot in the NYCBL’s West Division and would end up facing whichever team finished in fourth. One such team could have been the Gliders.
The Lizards started off the game hot, scoring three runs in the first inning, all of which was kickstarted by a leadoff single and subsequent steal of second base by Howie Stuckey III (Southeastern). He was brought in to score after a single by Anthony Snyder (Alfred State) who did not spend long on-base after Maxwell Rogers (Pitt-Bradford) launched a home run in the very next at-bat.
Momentum seemed to have been on the side of Salamanca, but three unanswered runs through the first four innings from Dansville tied the game back up.
The Lizards got back on the board and jumped ahead in the top of the fifth inning after Luke Petryszak (Gettysburg) picked up a leadoff ground-rule double. Stuckey (2-for-3, run) hit another single and moved Petryszak to third before he was ultimately brought home by an Andrew Hartman single for Salmanca’s third hit in as many at-bats in the inning.
Unfortunately for Salamanca, Dansville had an answer straight away. After a passed ball moved runners Aidan Diltz and Liam Stonestreet both into scoring position, Justin Colpack brought them both home with a single on the very next pitch.
The Lizards trailed for the first time after the fifth frame, but with both sides’ offenses unable to score for the rest of the affair, an Andrew Hartman putout was the last regular season action for Salamanca.
With Dansville’s victory, it surged ahead of Olean into third in the West Division and set up a first-round playoff matchup between the Lizards and Oilers at Bradner Stadium.
Genesee 7, Salamanca 4GENESEE — On July 19, Salamanca’s three-game win streak reached its end after falling to the Genesee Rapids in their penultimate game of the regular season.
After both sides canceled each other out with a run in the first inning each, the Rapids scored two in the second frame to take the slight advantage.
What followed were three innings of scoreless baseball until Genesee managed to break open the game with four runs in the bottom of the sixth.
The Lizards were able to respond with three of their own in their next chance at the plate but came up empty in the final two innings.
Of the seven hits that Salamanca managed to record on the day, Howie Stucky III (Southeastern) had two. He finished the game 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBI. Andrew Hartman went 1-for-4 with an RBI and Anthony Snyder went 1-for-3 with an RBI in the loss as well.
Luke Petryszak started on the mound for the Lizards and went six innings, tallying four strikeouts and no walks while giving up seven runs on seven hits.
Salamanca 14, Dansville 7SALAMANCA — In their final regular season game at home, the Salamanca Lizards put on a show, offensively, as they defeated the Dansville Gliders on July 17.
The bats were firing early in the win, Salamanca’s third in as many games and now the organization’s longest win streak on record. The Lizards were able to load the bases twice in the first inning alone, setting the tone for the rest of the affair in which they recorded 11 hits.
After packing bases twice, the Lizards found a way to capitalize on their early opportunity in the form of a two-RBI double from Mitchell McKinney (Jamestown Community College).
The Lizards managed to hang onto the lead until the third frame in which Dansville managed to tie the game up at two apiece. Starting pitcher Ryan Kinney, who had thrown two no-hit, no-run innings to start, found himself in a rough patch and conceded two runs and two hits. He was replaced after the inning by Dylan Kinney (Jamestown Community College), who finished out the game. The duo combined for 10 strikeouts, and five walks and allowed four runs on seven hits as the only two pitchers that saw the mound for Salamanca.
Salamanca took control of the lead for the second and final time in the fifth inning after a leadoff triple by Andrew Hartman was capitalized upon by Anthony Snyder (Alfred State) who recorded an RBI single in the very next at-bat. The momentum rolled into the sixth inning as the Lizards widened the gap with three more runs after loading the bases once again.
Dylan Kinney gave up two runs in the top of the seventh as Dansville threatened the Lizard’s advantage. But, on a night in which the Gliders’ pitching had not been at its best, Salamanca capitalized and scored eight runs in the bottom of the frame to end the game via mercy rule.
For full coverage of this game, visit https://www.salamancapress.com/sports/.
Salamanca 10, Horseheads 8
SALAMANCA — Thanks to a huge six-run inning, the Lizards came back to defeat the Horseheads Hitmen on July 16.
Both Salamanca and Horseheads got on the board in the first inning, scoring two apiece. It was in the second frame that the Hitmen stormed ahead, bringing four more runs across the plate without an answer from the Lizards.
However, after two more empty frames, the response did come from Salamanca in a big way. Andrew Hartman, Maxwell Rogers (Pitt-Bradford) and Tyler Curtis (SUNY Fredonia) each reached base in the Lizards’ first three at-bats of the fifth inning, loading the bases. Mitchell McKinney (Jamestown Community College) then worked a walk to bring the first run of the frame across for Salamanca. With two outs on the board Rogers (1-for-2, three RBI, run) took advantage of a passed ball and stole home for another run during Lucas Feldman’s (Genesee Community College) at-bat. Feldman (1-for-4, two runs, two RBI) then proceeded to connect on a pitch for a two-RBI double that scored both Curtis (1-for-5, run) and McKinney (1-for-3, two RBI, run) and knocked the Horseheads pitcher out of the game.
The substitution was of little help to the visitors as Salamanca loaded the bases once again on walks in the next two at-bats. Hartman (RBI, two runs, four walks) worked his second walk of the inning which brought in Feldman and Rogers was hit by his second pitch of the inning to score Petryszak for the sixth and final Lizards run of the fifth.
Horseheads scored a run apiece in the seventh and eighth frames, but two more runs in the seventh frame, scored by Feldman and Howie Stuckey III (Southeastern) put the game out of reach for the Hitmen.
