| 4/15/2003 7:54:36 PM
Click here for the boxscore of game 1
Click here for the boxscore of game 2
ROCHESTER, N.Y. - A warm sunny day finally arrived in Rochester, but there's always a catch when you live in western New York.
The Keuka Storm baseball team travelled to Rochester to face the Tigers and brought along strong winds like their namesake. The Tigers
would use the strong winds to their advantage as they defeated Keuka 12-4 and 9-7.
Keuka struck the first blow when first baseman Mike Mullins (Penn Yan, N.Y.) scored from second on a single by George Stever (St. Johnsville, N.Y.)
in the top of the second inning. RIT Athlete of the Week Mark Sapienza (Avon, NY/Avon Central) (Rochester, N.Y.), whose bat was still hot from his 5-7, 5 RBI performance on Sunday, answered
back in the bottom of the second inning with a 3 run home run that was helped over the fence in right-center by the strong wind.
A 6 run 6th inning by the Tigers, complete with the rare triple steal, would seal the deal for RIT hurler Dylan Rees (Wampsville, NY/Oneida) (Wampsville, N.Y.). With the bases loaded, Sapienza mistakingly walked to first
on the third ball. All runners advanced until the home plate umpire called Sapienza back and notified him it was only ball three. All three RIT base runners were credited
with a steal on the play. Rees would earn the win allowing 2 runs (1 earned) with 1 walk and 4 strikeouts.
Keuka sought revenge in the second game by knocking in 5 runs against left handed pitcher Andrew Olek (Fairport, NY/Fairport) (Fairport, N.Y.). Dan Weglinski (Hyde Park, NY/F D Roosevelt) (Hyde Park, N.Y.) would come on in relief in
the third inning and pitched 3 2/3 solid innings allowing only 2 runs (1 earned).
The Tigers chipped away at the 5-0 Keuka lead when Adam Gerentine (Marlboro, NY/Marlboro High School) (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) doubled with the bases loaded in the bottom of the second inning and knocked in
3 runs to cut Keuka's lead to only 2 runs. Keuka added another 2 runs in the third inning, but the Tigers answered with 3 runs of their own in the bottom of the third. Gerentine
later knocked in his 4th RBI of the game in the bottom of the 5th inning to tie the game at 7-7.
With the game still tied at 7, designated hitter Ben Fuller (Penfield, N.Y./Penfield) (Penfield, N.Y.) would reach base on a mishandled fly-ball by Keuka left fielder Craig Smithers (Gouverneur, N.Y.). Sophomore David France (Albany, N.Y./Albany High School) (Albany, N.Y.) came in
to pinch run for Fuller and was later knocked in when Dan Feldman (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) (Brewster, N.Y.) hit the eventual game winning home run later that inning. Matt Knodel (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) would earn the win for the Tigers on 1 1/3 innings pitched while striking
out 4 of the 5 batters he faced.
RIT travels to face Empire 8 opponent Ithaca on Friday, April 18th. Ithaca is currently second place behind RIT in the Empire 8.
