Omar Garcia (State College of Florida) knocked in the winning run with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the bottom on the ninth inning as the Oneonta Outlaws picked up the 4-3 win at Damaschke Field over the visiting Newark Pilots.  The come-from-behind victory was a close match up, featuring station-to-station baseball throughout the game.

The final inning began with relief pitcher Clay Bates (Clemson) forcing the Pilots into three consecutive ground outs, setting up the ninth inning heroics for the Outlaws in the 3-3 game.  Omar Rivera (State College of Florida) led off with a walk off relief pitcher Jimmy Wagner (Ithaca), forcing Newark to bring in lefty reliever Ethan Humpert (Rochester Inst. of Technology) who allowed designated hitter Shane Crain (Louisville) to advance River to second on a nicely executed sacrifice bunt.  Zac Johnson (Illinois State) then reached in an intentional walk, and each runner advanced one base on Clay Holcomb’s (Troy) infield single.  Garcia then walked to the plate with bases loaded to loft a fly ball to shallow right field, with Rivera tagging up from third.  The throw from Ben Bostick (St. John Fisher) was slightly off the mark, allowing in the winning run.

For the Pilots, starting pitcher Daniel Thorpe (St. Joseph’s) threw 6 1/3 innings, allowing eight hits and three runs, before Wagner, who picked up the loss, came in relief.  Newark hitters were held to four hits, and were led by Adam Grace (Erie Community College) one hit, an RBI and two walks, and Chris Doyle (UC Davis) who had a hit, a walk and an RBI.

The Outlaws used three pitchers, all of whom were effective in the win.  Starter Brett Lisle (Virginia) allowed two runs and three hits in five innings of work and relief pitcher Jeremy Rhoades (Illinois State) tossed three innings, allowing one run and one hit, before Bates came in to shut down the Pilots and secure the win.

Oneonta’s offense was spread throughout the lineup with Logan Brown (Baylor) picking up two hits, Omar Rivera had one hit, one run and an RBI, Shane Crain had a double to center, an RBI and a walk, while Zac Johnson had two hits and a run.  Cory Hunt (Utah), batting ninth, had an interesting evening as well, scoring twice with one hit, two walks and one hit-by-pitch advance.

The game also featured an excellent defensive play, one which might have given the Outlaws an earlier lead had Sean Osterman (St. John Fisher) not thrown out Shane Crain at home plate from centerfield on a nice throw following Zac Johnson’s line drive hit up the middle.  Crain was at second, following his own double to center, and was running hard with the two-out hit by Johnson.  Osterman’s throw was on target and catcher Cash Barker (Texas A&M Kingsville) was able to make the tag on the close play.

The final line score for the evening was Newark 3 runs, 4 hits and one error, Outlaws 4 runs, 9 hits and 2 errors in 2:48.

The Outlaws return to Damaschke Field on Tuesday July 10th for a 7:00 pm contest with the Elmira Pioneers.