The Cortland Crush battled it out with the Sherrill Silversmiths on Friday evening. A tight game through each and every inning, Cortland had to earn it in this slugfest as they held off the Silversmiths 12-8 to win the game. Zach Marriot, who came in the game to pinch hit for just one at-bat, and Mathew Ward (3-for-4) would be the heroes in this one as they hit back-to-back homeruns to give the Crush a lead late in the game that would also win it.
The Crush jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first after Javier Rosa scored from third base on a wild pitch by Sherrill and Lawrence Hamilton hit a solo shot to earn his second homer of the summer. Shutting out the Silversmiths in the bottom half of the frame, Cortland would strike yet again in the top of the second on a two RBI double from Michael Breen to make the score 4-0.
Sherrill would get on the board in the bottom of the second as they answered back with three runs. Cam Caraher (4-for-4) hit an RBI single and Cristian Mercedes hit a two RBI single. Both ball clubs would then score one run in the third inning to make the score 5-4 Cortland. Nick Pastore grounded out into a 6-4-3 double play, however Hamilton was able to score from third on the play for the Crush and the Silversmiths would score on a solo home run from Ben Metzner.
The Crush would score yet again in the top of the fourth on a sacrifice fly from Justice Welch and limit the Silversmiths to no runs in the bottom half of the inning to make the score 6-4. Sherrill would not stay down though as Brady O’Brien came up big for the Silversmiths in the fifth and sixth innings at the plate. With Cortland finally being held to no runs in these two innings courtesy of relief pitcher Griffin Gilbert, O’Brien launched a solo homerun himself in the fifth and then hit an RBI single in the sixth to tie the game at six.
The seventh inning would go scoreless for both ball clubs, however the Crush were able to take the lead in the eighth on back-to-back homeruns from the Canadian duo of Zach Marriott and Mathew Ward. Marriott hit a three run homer while Ward picked up a solo shot for his second home run of the season. Sherrill would continue to battle in this one though as they scored two in the bottom half of the frame on yet another homerun, this time from Caraher and then Blake VanDreason hit an RBI single to make the score 10-8 going into the ninth.
This would be all she wrote though as the Crush put up another two runs in the top of the ninth. Rosa scored from third for the Crush on a wild pitch, and Buzz Shirley scored unearned on an error before the Crush held the Silversmiths scoreless in the final frame to win the game 12-8.
One of six pitchers to make an appearance for the Crush today, Edward Hardiman would be the winning pitcher in this one and earned his first win of the summer. Hardiman pitched 1.2 innings and picked up one strikeout while walking no batters in his time on the mound.
“The six pitchers we threw tonight each had a role and significantly contributed along with some guys off the bench,” said head Coach Bill McConnell. “A pinch hit three run home run to put us ahead and a great team victory all around on a very tough field, against a very tough team when at home.”
With their fourth win over Sherrill this season, the Crush will enjoy a day off today before they are back on the road Sunday for a double header with the Dansville Gliders beginning at 2 pm.