By Jeff Sowa
Allow the opponent to bat through its lineup six times and rack up 22 hits in the process, and the result usually won’t be pretty.
This was the case for the Niagara Power in their 13-4 New York Collegiate Baseball League loss to the Webster Yankees on Friday at Sal Maglie Stadium.
The Power (6-12) fell into an early hole, giving up three runs in the first inning on back-to-back run-scoring hits. They dug themselves even deeper in the third, going down 5-0 to the first-place Yankees (13-5), who received a 5-for-5 game from left fielder Nate Koontz. He sparked the offense with a pair of doubles, two singles, a triple, four RBIs and a walk.
“As good as our pitching has been, it was tough tonight,” Power skipper Sam Kirby said following the game. “We left our stuff up and over the middle of the plate, and they took advantage of every pitch we left in the zone.”
Of the 22 hits, 12 came at the expense of Niagara’s Anthony Cimabue, who gave up eight runs in 4 2/3 innings.
The Power bats came alive briefly in the bottom of the third, plating three runs as Kirby had his team abandon its usual small-ball approach in favor of a more free-swinging attack. The first run came on a wild pitch with Jake Gill at the plate, followed by an RBI groundout from Angelo Buscemi and a run-scoring triple off the bat of Travis Latz.
“My approach to baseball is small-ball, but there’s a time when you got to let your guys hit,” Kirby said. “I had confidence they’d put the ball in play for us.”
And they did, but not often. The Power managed just eight hits. Their fourth and final run came in the fourth inning on another wild pitch, this time with Mark Donahue scoring in front of a crowd of 351.
After Webster batted around for a five-run sixth inning, the game was out of hand for the home squad.
“There will be some lineup changes coming,” Kirby said. “We’ll get guys in there who will compete and bring a little extra fire.”
“As soon as we can put the three aspects of baseball together — pitching, hitting and defense — we’re going to be a scary team down the stretch.”
Niagara’s next two games are against Elmira. The first comes on the road at 7 p.m. today, followed by a home contest at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
