Sherrill – Whitestown Post 1113 scored 7 runs, on 7 hits, all with two outs in the top of the third inning and went on to a 10-6 District V American Legion Baseball victory over Sherrill Post 230, at historic Noyes Park in Sherrill.
Sherrill entered tonight’s game with an (11-1) record, the best in all of Disctrict V to this point, but it was visiting Whitestown who got on the board first. Utica College’s Matt Yozzo hit a moon shot out of the park in right field with one out in the top of the second inning to give Post 1113 the early 1-0 advantage.
Whitestown’s Matt Yozzo delivers a second inning home run (Photo By Jeff Pexton -Perfect Game Imaging)
Sherrill would answer in the home half of the second, when Ryan Palmer, a Utica College recruit himself, drilled a solo homer off yet another Utica College recruit, Whitestown starter Griffin Baur, tying the game at 1-1.
Sherrill’s Ryan Palmer has a spring in his step as he rounds second base on his 2nd inning solo homer (Photo By- Jeff Pexton – Perfect Game Imaging)
The top half of the third was the inning that had a little bit of everything, not the least of which were 7 runs on two outs by Whitestown. The turning point of the inning and quite possibly the game, came with 2 outs, with Whitestown’s Jack Aquaviva at the plate. Devin Long got Aquaviva out on strikes, but the ball got away from Sherrill catcher Nate Palmer, requiring a throw to first for the out. Palmer’s throw sailed to the right of Sherrill first baseman Ben Ziarko who appeared to get his foot back to the bag just as Aquaviva reached it.
A minor amount of chaos ensued as the entire Sherrill team was certain that they had gotten the third out of the inning. Instead, Aquaviva was ruled safe and Whitestown banged out 6 more hits, including a huge 2 RBI single by Matt Yozzo, chasing starter Devin Long, in favor of Andrew Roden. Roden would eventually strike out Nick Casper with the bases loaded to stop the bleeding, but not before Whitestown held an 8-1 lead.
Post 230, widely known as one of the best hitting clubs in District V, tacked on 3 runs in the home half of the third inning, when Mitch DeBarr and Dylan Slotzhauer started things off with back to back singles. Consecutive RBI singles from Roden and Ryan Palmer later drew Sherrill to within 8-3, at the end of three innings of play.
Andrew Roden rips a three run bomb for Sherrill during 5th inning action. (Photo By – Jeff Pexton – Perfect Game Imaging)
Whitestown made it 10-3 in the top of the 5th, when Ryan Humphrey and Nick Casper both singled and later scored.
Andrew Roden’s three run homer in the bottom of the 5th pulled Sherrill to within 10-6 and marked the end of the night for Griffin Baur, who did a remarkable job against Sherrill’s potent offense. Ryan McAndrew relieved Baur and shut Sherrill down without any further damage in the inning.
Sherrill threatened again in the bottom of the 7th, getting two runners aboard with one out, but Whitestown closer Steven Schmidt came on in relief of McAndrew and got the final out of the game.
Whitestown’s Ryan Humphrey slides safely into second under the tag of Sherrill’s Ryan Palmer, during third inning action. (Photo By- Jeff Pexton – Perfect Game Imaging)
Griffin Baur picked up the win for Whitestown, working 4 innings, allowing 3 runs, on 5 hits, striking out 3 and walking 2. The win improves Whitestown to (7-3) on the season and into a third place tie with Oriskany in the Navy Division, trailing second place Smith Post and league leader Sherrill, which dropped to (11-2).
After the game, longtime Whitestown Post Manager Paul Engelhart told Mid-York Sports that he was proud of his team’s effort on the road tonight, adding “it was a great win against the top team in the league to this point of the season. We really battled very well at the plate with two outs, in fact all 10 of our runs came with two outs.”
Matt Yozzo paced Whitestown at the plate with two hits and 3 RBI, while Ryan Humphrey added 3 hits for the winners.
Andrew Roden finished with 3 hits and 3 RBI for Sherrill.
