By Jeff Sowa
NIAGARA FALLS — The tailspin continued Friday night for the Niagara Power, and their most recent loss, a 9-1 drubbing at the hands of the Webster Yankees at Sal Maglie Stadium, just about put an end to any potential run at a New York Collegiate Baseball League playoff berth.
The loss was the eighth straight for the Power (10-23), during which they’ve been outscored 72-19.
Niagara got on the board first on a double steal in the first that saw Jacan Warren swipe second and Andrew Ahrendt take home to give the Power a 1-0 lead.
Starting pitcher Anthony Cimabue held the lead into the fifth, allowing no hits through his first four innings of work. Then, in the top of the fifth, things fell apart.
Webster (18-17) tied the game on a two-out RBI single off the bat of Ricky Clark. Shawn Bailey followed with another run-scoring single and, two batters later, Nate Koontz delivered a bases-clearing double that put the Yankees up 5-1 in front of a crowd of 259.
After a scoreless home half of the fifth for the Power, things got testy in the top of the sixth when Power skipper Sam Kirby was ejected for arguing what appeared to be a bad umpiring call at second base. Kirby bolted out of the Niagara dugout when Power shortstop A.J. Roller seemed to clearly tag Webster’s Oliver Bertrand for a fielder’s choice on a groundball from Matt Jacobs. Following an argument that lasted several minutes, Kirby was thrown out of a game for just the second time in three years, and the first at home.
Webster plated three runs in the sixth, as both Clark and Bailey picked up their second RBIs of the game. The Yanks tacked on another meaningless run in the eighth on a passed ball that Power catcher Alejandro Crisostomo allowed to skip to the backstop.
Angelo Buscemi and Warren had two singles apiece to account for Niagara’s four total hits. The Power were up against dominant pitching all night, with Webster starter Lincoln Rassi allowing just two hits over six innings, striking out nine.
Up next for Niagara is a twinbill at Geneva that starts at 5 p.m. today.
