By Rob Potter
MOUNTAINDALE — July 1, 2005 – The Sullivan Spartans fell behind early in last Thursday evening’s Collegiate Baseball League (CBL) game versus the visiting Kingston Colonials at Baxter Stadium in Mountaindale.
Unfortunately for the Spartans, they could not recover from that early deficit.
Kingston grabbed the lead in the top of the first when Greg Redding hit a two-run home run over the left field fence. After five scoreless innings, the Colonials scored twice in the top of the seventh to record a 4-0 victory.
Sullivan starting pitcher Chris Armstrong had to leave the game in the first inning due to an injury. Reliever Travis Steffens walked a batter and got a strikeout before giving up Redding’s homer. But Steffens struck out the next Colonials’ batter to end the inning.
Kingston improved its record to 8-2 overall and 8-2 in CBL play. Sullivan dropped to 7-11 overall and 5-8 in CBL competition.
After Redding’s first inning blast, Sullivan pitcher John Kitsos kept the Colonial batters in check over the next five innings. He gave up two hits and struck out six.
In the top of the seventh, Kitsos faced one hitter before being relieved by teammate Kyle Sinclair. The batter that Kitsos faced, Eric Wilsey, hit an infield ground ball, but made it all the way to second base when the throw to first base was wide and sailed behind the bag. Wilsey then moved to third base when the umpires called a balk on Sinclair.
Moments later, Wilsey scored on a wild pitch to extend the Colonials’ lead to 3-0.
With two outs and Trevor Bailey on second base, Justin Buanamono ripped a single to center field. The base hit allowed Bailey to score what would be the game’s final run.
Sullivan’s Elvin Gutierrez led off the bottom of the seventh with a bloop single to shallow center field. But Bailey, who pitched a complete game for Kingston, got the next batter to fly out. Joe Fitzpatrick then smashed a hard line drive, but Redding, the Colonials’ first baseman, snagged the baseball in his glove and quickly touched the bag to double up Gutierrez and end the game.
“We only had nine players here tonight, so we just wanted to go out and have fun,” said Glanzman, who is the Colonials’ player/manager.
He added that a couple of NCAA Division I players on the team were playing out of their normal positions and that Redding, who plays on a Division III baseball team, was the Colonials’ first baseman – which is not his normal defensive position.
“And Bailey threw a heck of a game for us,” Glanzman said. “His curveball was sharp.”
Sullivan Coach Jed Carrier noted that his team has been playing well lately, but does not have a lot of wins to show for it.
“Our pitching and defense have been pretty good the past few games,” he said.
However, the Spartans’ offense has been struggling. The team had only four hits against Bailey.
Carrier said he hoped that recent roster addition Eddie Gonzalez, who hit a ground-rule double early in the game, would help put some more power in the middle of the team’s lineup.
“The guys are working hard,” Carrier commented. “We just need to get the bats going and be more consistent.”
Note: The Spartans return to Baxter Stadium tomorrow afternoon. Sullivan is scheduled to host the Schenectady City Bombers in a CBL doubleheader beginning at noon.