WALTON – Scoring five runs in the second inning, Afton lead early on the road against the Walton Warriors Monday afternoon. Four errors allowed Walton to climb back into the game but The Crimson Knights held on for the Midstate Athletic Conference win, 6-5.
Brody Oleksak picked up the final two outs for Afton, striking out the final batter to leave the tying run stranded on third. He came in on relief in the last inning for the Knights starter Colin Nabinger.
The Crimson Knights put the first five runs of the game on the board but Walton answered with three in the bottom half of the inning. The Warriors tacked on another in the fourth to make it a one run game with three innings left to play.
Afton added one run in the sixth, hoping that would be the deciding run. It proved to be when Oleksak caught Walton’s Brendan McCormack looking for the third and final strike needed to close out the game.
Colin Nabinger went six and one-third innings for the win, allowing five hits with seven strikeouts. Nabinger helped get his own win at the plate as he went 2-for-4 with a run scored and two stolen bases.
Tyler King and Kyle Grover also had two hits in the game, both hitting a double in one of their at-bats. Damion Relyea also had a double.
Walton’s Joseph Yambor and McCormack each had two hits with McCormack earning the team’s only double. Nick Lamoreaux had two RBIs and Ethyn Church scored two runs.
Austin Ladd of Walton took the loss, pitching the full six innings. He gave up six earned runs on nine hits. Ladd struck out four Knight batters.
Afton will be looking for back-to-back wins as host Unadilla Valley on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.
Afton 6, Walton 5
Afton 0 5 0 0 0 1 0 – 6 9 4
Walton 0 3 0 1 0 0 1 – 5 7 0
Colin Nabinger (W), Brody Oleksak (7) and Vince Caiati. Austin Ladd (L), Nolan Church (7) and Kyle Wright.
Doubles: (A) Damion Relyea, Tyler King, Kyle Grover; (W) Brendan McCormack.
Sidney 9, Unadilla Valley 5
NEW BERLIN – Sidney’s four runs in the second inning proved to be the difference against host Unadilla Valley as the Warriors defeated the Storm 9-5 Monday afternoon.
With the score tied at 1-1 after the first, Sidney used three hits, two walks, an error and a few passed balls to score their four runs in their second inning at-bats.
The Storm, however, didn’t go down without a fight as they chipped away at the Warriors lead.
By the sixth inning, Sidney led 9-3. In the bottom half of the frame, UV scored one as Adam Lamont crossed the plate due to a Warriors error by the shortstop. Drew Emrich hit a fly ball but the shortstop couldn’t field it properly, scoring one for the Storm.
Hoping to get a big rally started in their final plate appearance, Andrew Jackson picked up a lead-off double in the bottom of the seventh. Cameron Osborne hit a hard ground ball two pitches later, reaching on an error, advancing Jackson to third.
Attempting to be aggressive on the bases, Osborne was picked off by Sidney’s pitcher Levi Green but Jackson was able to cross the plate. With his run, Unadilla Valley closed the gap down to four.
Down to the final out of the game, Lamont hit a hard ground ball to the shortstop and was able to reach on another error. However, Lamont was left on base as the shortstop redeemed himself to get Colby Moore out on his way to first.
Colin Grant, Timmy Postma, Jackson, Osborne and all split time pitching for Unadilla Valley. Together, the Storm pitchers rung up eight Sidney batters. Grant started on he mound and was given the loss.
