Herkimer comes back from 7 run deficit to stun Niagara CCC in extra innings

Cortlandville, NY - It didn't look good for the Herkimer Generals on Wednesday afternoon in the 6th inning of their matchup with the Western Division leaders from Niagara CCC. But the Generals then showed everyone, with their offense, they are never out of a game.

Trailing 8-1 going into the bottom of the 6th, Herkimer scored 2 in the 6th and added 5 more in the 7th to force extra innings. After Niagara scored 2 in the top of the 8th to take the lead, Anthony Raimo, Jr (Altamont, NY) capped off an incredible Generals comeback with a walk-off 3 run home run to give Herkimer an 11-10 win over the Thunderwolves in Game 1 of their doubleheader at Gutchess Park in Cortlandville, NY. Game 2 was called off due to rain with Herkimer leading 6-2 in the fourth inning.

The comeback started when Matt Tobin (Newport, NY) jacked a 2 run home run to cut the lead to 8-3 going into the 7th. After scratching together 2 more runs to cut the lead to 8-5 in the 7th, the Generals were down to their last strike before Sal Carricato (Farmingville, NY) cracked a 2 run single to bring the Generals within one. Dom Fasolo (Whitesboro, NY) only had one hit in the game, but it was a huge one as he took the first pitch he saw and lined a game tying single to right field to knot the game at 8 and send it to extra innings.

After Niagara took a 10-8 lead, the Generals completed the comeback in the bottom of the 8th when Kyle Caccamise (Hopewell Junction, NY) singled to center with one out, which was part of a 3 hit day for Caccamise. Yuzuki Okamura (Osaka, Japan) then reached on an error which set up Raimo's game-ending heroics with the 3 run home run to end the game.

Eddie Rogers (Little Falls, NY) got the win in relief by getting the last two outs of the 8th inning. Christian Ramirez (Amityville, NY) turned in some strong work on the mound, going 4 innings and only allowing one run after the Generals fell behind by the 8-1 score and kept the game alive for the Generals to be able to pull off the comeback.

With the dramatic win, Herkimer improves to 23-2 on the year and are currently ranked # 5 in the latest NJCAA Division III National Poll. Next up for the Generals is a weekend series with the Monroe Community College Tribunes, with Saturday's doubleheader set for Vets Park in Little Falls and Sunday's twinbill set for Rochester, NY. Start times for both days is set for 12 Noon.