JOHNSTOWN —
The New York Long Island Astros started Wednesday morning’s elimination-bracket game against the Columbus Braves with a hint of sluggishness.
Down three runs by the third inning, New York stayed alive in the AAABA Tournament by scoring nine unanswered runs en route to a 9-4 win at Point Stadium. The Astros’ reward will be a clash with defending champion New Orleans today.
At the plate, New York’s Mike Cunningham had three hits and drove in four runs to spark his squad.
“We let up a couple runs early, but we gotta fight back,” Cunningham said. “We’ve been battling all tournament, so hopefully we can keep it going.”
Columbus jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning as Tyler Welch reached on a throwing error by Max Teece just before Chris Fox drew a walk. Zack McGuire drove in Welch with a single to right before Adam Scheiderer tripled in Fox. Columbus added to its lead in the third when Chris Mitko singled in Fox. From there, New York’s Jared Mancini shut down Columbus, allowing just three hits over the next five frames. Mancini fanned four while scattering eight hits.
“In the beginning, I had a pattern and I was throwing a lot of curveball-fastball, curveball-fastball,” Mancini said. “Then I started changing it up. (Columbus) kept trying to wait on my outside fastball and just hit it the opposite way. When I came in, they really got a hold of it.”
Cunningham drove in New York’s first two runs in the bottom of the third with a single to center that brought in Teece and Peter Magistrale, who both reached on singles.
New York followed up the third-inning output with a seven-run outburst in the fourth, instigated by Ryan Rusoff’s one-out single to center. Rusoff moved to second when P.J. Lenz reached on an error by Dave Kennett at shortstop. Zach Badanes drove in Rusoff to knot the score at 3. Teece drew a walk from Columbus’ Tyler Seibert to load the bases.
A single by Tom Scala gave New York a 4-3 lead. An error at second made it 5-3 when Badanes crossed the plate. Cunningham expanded the lead to 7-3 with his second two-run single in as many at-bats.
Magistrale and Cunningham scored two batters later on Vinnie Carmanati’s base hit to right.
“A seven-run inning helped us put (Columbus) away,” New York manager Jeffrey Rusoff said. “Our pitcher got the job done, he kept them at three runs after we gave up a couple in the first. (Cunningham) is hitting very well and (Mancini) pitched great, so we’re happy with the win.”
After the fourth, the Astros managed just one base runner to second through the remainder of the game.
Columbus worked a run in the ninth against New York reliever Danny Joy when Kennett was hit by a pitch and moved to third as the Braves loaded the bases. Ben Washington reached on an error two batters before Fox drew a walk. McGuire singled in Kennett to set the final.
“We got three runs when we thought we should have had a 5- or 6-spot,” Columbus manager Bruce Domenick said. “When you have those opportunities to score, you have to score big, and we didn’t. We tried to rely on the lead and not add on.”
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Related Photos
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TODD BERKEY/THE TRIBUNE-DEMOCRAT New York’s Mike Cunningham (left) beats the tag of Columbus second baseman Ben Washington during the first inning at Point Stadium on Wednesday. Cunningham doubled on the play and finished the game with four RBIs. Todd Berkey
Discussion
New York uses seven-run inning to stop Columbus
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