Generals score early and often against Wood Ducks

KINSTON, NC – Gathering seven hits and one walk all in the first inning on Tuesday (5/26) helped the Herkimer Generals baseball team collect eight runs in the first inning of an NJCAA DIII World Series consolation game at Grainger Stadium (NC), then defeated Century College 13-10 to eliminate the Wood Ducks from the national tournament.

Herkimer (48-5) saw their first three batters get on base against Century's Corey Roach. Taishi Terashima (Hiranai, Japan) singled on the first pitch he saw, Patrick Dorrian (Kingston, NY) bunted for a base hit and Tyler Phillips (Hancock, NY) doubled. Phillips double gave Herkimer the first lead of the game, scoring Terashima (1-0).

After a wild pitch which scored Dorrian (2-0), freshman Jake Rouse (Milford, CT) knocked Roach out of the game with a double, scoring Phillips to increase the lead to 3-0. Roach only recorded one out in his appearance, needing Christian Zellner to come in for the rest of the nine inning game.

On Zellner's first pitch of his appearance, freshman Christian Malave (Milford, CT) collected his 10^th home run of the season and three RBI's with John Boland (Rhinebeck, NY) and Rouse scoring, pushing the lead to 6-0. The hit for Malave broke the Generals single season home run record which was held by Brandon Jones since 2010. Malave finished the game 3-for-5 with three runs scored and three runs batted in.

Helping Herkimer increase the lead to 8-0 in the first inning was Dorrian. After Eric Downey (Colonie, NY) reached on an error and Terashima singled, Dorrian smashed a pitch down the right-field line for this fifth triple of the season, scoring Downey and Terashima. Dorrian finished the game 2-for-6 with two runs scored and two runs batted in.

The lead ballooned to 9-0 in the second after Boland hit his third home run of the season, but decreased back to 9-3 after Century collected their first home run of the game in the bottom of the inning, off Generals starter Joe Nellis (Johnstown, NY). It would be the only runs Century scored in the first five innings with Nellis allowing seven hits in his 5 2/3 innings pitched, striking out a season-high 10 batters on the day for his eighth win (8-0) of the season.

Herkimer put the game out of reach after their half of the eighth when a fielder's choice (6-4) by Boland scored Dorrian and double by Rouse scored Boland to make it 13-5. The Wood Ducks didn't go without a fight however, scoring five runs with their last six outs against Joey Butler (Ballston Lake, NY) and Thomas Carola (Hicksville, NY). Four of those runs came against Carola in the ninth, allowing two home runs and five hits in the inning. It allowed Carola to obtain the save with Herkimer winning 13-10.

Up next for the Generals in the World Series is Joliet Junior College. The #6 Wolves have only lost to #3 Tyler in the tournament, watching the Apaches defeat Joliet 10-0 on Monday (5/25). Herkimer will play their fifth game in four days, but first doubleheader against the Wolves who did not play a game Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Score:

Herkimer Generals 13, Century Wood Ducks 10

Generals 810 010 120 | 13

Wood Ducks 030 002 014 | 10

WP: Joe Nellis (8-0) LP: Corey Roach (1-1); 2B: Generals 4 (Rouse 2, Dorrian, Malave) Wood Ducks 2 (Ganskie, DeGrasse); 3B: Herkimer 1 (Dorrian); HR: Generals 2 (Boland, Malave) Century 3 (Howard, DeGrasse, Hasselquist); RBI: Herkimer 10 (Malave 3, Dorrian 2, Boland 2, Rouse 2, Phillips) Wood Ducks 10 (Howard 3, Cary 2, Hasselquist 2, DeGrasse, Carlson, Holmes); Records: Herkimer 27-1, 48-5 Century 40-9

-Giorgio Varlaro