NEWS

By Brandon Schwartzberg

Fresh off falling into a one-run deficit in the top of the eighth on a controversial obstruction call, the Cropdusters searched for a rally in the bottom-half of the inning.

Two at bats after a Grant Painter (James Madison) walk, Matt Miura (Hawaii) entered off Head Coach Adam Leader’s bench as a pinch-hitter. He was intentionally walked after working a 3-0 count.

That sent Anthony Swenda (UMBC) up to the dish as Olney’s second straight reserve bat.

Swenda roped an 0-1 pitch into center field, scoring Painter from third easily. Miura received the green light from Leader to race around third and head home. He crossed the plate standing as the go-ahead run.

“I just told myself see the ball up,” Swenda said, “and he threw me a slider [that] kinda started at my hip. I’ve been noticing I’ve been hitting the breaking balls a little bit better. So [I] jumped on it.”

The Cropdusters (18-11) used Swenda’s second game-winning hit of the season to down the Thunderbolts (10-18) in late-inning heroics, 6-5.

Designated hitter Brayden Martin (University of Maryland) followed Swenda with an RBI triple to put Olney up two. That insurance score mattered big time in the end, as Silver Spring-Takoma struck for one run in the top of the ninth and put the go-ahead run on base.

But Brandon Gonsalves (Central Florida) induced a game-ending groundout on the first pitch of the ensuing at bat to seal the victory.

The contest started out as a pitcher’s duel as the clubs combined for only three runs through five innings. Both starters received no-decisions.

Silver Spring-Takoma starter Beck Urofsky (Cornell) was excellent through five innings on Wednesday. The 6-foot-4 right-hander allowed just one unearned run in that span, pitching himself out of trouble on multiple occasions — including escaping a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the fourth.

But a Will Baumhofer (College of Charleston) walk and a John Seibert (Millersville) single to left to begin the bottom of the sixth ended Urofsky’s evening in favor of Hunter Baynes (University of Maryland). Baynes allowed both inherited runners to score on a throwing error on a Painter bunt, capping off Urofsky’s line with three runs — two earned — charged against him.

Like Urofsky, Josh Beck (Florida Tech) turned in a respectable start for the Cropdusters on the other side.

The 6-foot-6 lefty fired his longest outing this season, facing 24 batters in 5.1 innings. He struck out six in the process but struggled with his command at times, walking a season-high six batters. Beck allowed five hits as well.

Still, he limited the damage to only a pair of runs against him despite allowing at least one Thunderbolt to reach base in every inning.

The scoring against Beck occurred in the top of the second when Quincy Via (Marymount) and Matthew Sicoli (Emory) each drove home a run on a single and bases-loaded walk, respectively. But Olney’s starter escaped the frame with no further damage on an inning-ending double-play with the bases juiced yet again.

Ben Vok (Frostburg State) relieved Beck in the top of the sixth and was in line for the win following Olney’s two-run bottom-half of the frame. But Sicoli’s second home run of the season with one out in the top of the seventh tied the game at three.

Silver-Spring Takoma took a 4-3 lead in the top of the eighth as Michael Heckman (Shippensburg) scored on an obstruction infraction called against Olney following a rundown between third base and home plate.

But then the Cropdusters struck for three in the bottom of the eighth to take a lead they held onto in the next frame.

Swenda accounted for two of those runs on his double as he pinch-hit for starting shortstop Patrick Sanchez (College of Charleston). He made sure to make it beknownst postgame that his win-securing knock could’ve come from anyone on the club.

“Pat’s one of the best guys on the team, you know, just didn’t have a good game today. It happens to all of us,” Swenda said. “I know that he or anybody else on the team would do the same thing. I think that’s just a testament to how deep we are. We can all replace each other on any given day.”

The Cropdusters will look to keep the momentum going following their win when they host the Giants on Thursday.