Mohawk Valley Wins in 12 Innings
Indians Trail Mohawk Valley By 2.5

by Scott Montesano
Rome Indians Marketing Intern

(Rome, NY) Jason Sullivan’s two-out RBI single in the 12th inning broke a scoreless tie and gave the Mohawk Valley Red Legs a 1-0 win over the Rome Indians Friday night at DeLutis Field.

The loss drops the Indians 2.5 games behind Mohawk Valley for a playoff spot, with ten games remaining.

Prior to Sullivan’s game-winning hit the contest had been completely dominated by each team’s pitching staff.

Mohawk Valley starter, Aaron Miller went 10 innings on the mound, allowing only one hit and striking out 11. Seth Crossett earned the victory out the bullpen, pitching a scoreless and hitless 11th and 12th innings.

Meanwhile, Indian’s starter Chase Huotari also had an excellent outing. The Grand Prairie, TX native went nine scoreless innings allowing five hits and striking out 10.

Indian’s newcomer Nick Secchini - who had joined the team earlier in the day – suffered the loss out the bullpen. Despite taking the loss, Secchini’s NYCBL debut was a good one. Over three innings of work he struck out two and only had one (intentional) walk.

Nevertheless, in the 12th inning, Mohawk Valley capitalized on a pair of seeing-eye base hits to score the only run of the ballgame.

Adrian Casanova led off with a shot between first and second base. Indians’ second basemen Josh Pardo almost made a diving stop but didn’t have enough time to throw out Casanova.

After Tim Allen popped up while attempting a sacrifice bunt, Matt Cuttruff was able to lay down a sac bunt to move the winning run to second base.

The Indians then intentionally walked Adam Schorr to set up a double play, however Sullivan would follow with a base hit to centerfield to give the Red Legs the 1-0 advantage.

The 1-0 lead was more than enough on this night as the Indians simply ran into outstanding Mohawk Valley pitching. Every time the Indians threatened to get on the scoreboard, the Red Leg pitcher didn’t crumble under the pressure.

Instead, it seemed to energize them. Both Miller and Crossett combined to strand 11 Rome runners on base, including six in scoring position.

Rome’s best scoring chance came in the 11th inning, when the Indians loaded the bases thanks to a pair of walks and an error with one-out. However, Crossett bore down on the mound and was able to get an infield ground ball and flyout to end the threat.

In the end, the Indians lone hit of the ballgame was a double by Cory Newman in the fourth inning. If it weren’t for that hit, Mohawk Valley starter Aaron Miller would have had his second no-hitter of the season. Miller threw a seven-inning no-hitter against Geneva in June.

Mohawk Valley’s Adrian Casanova was the only player in the game to have multiple hits. He finished with three singles.

After winning the first four meetings between the teams, Rome has lost two straight to Mohawk Valley. The teams will meet again next weekend, with a playoff spot possibly on the line. Still, before that series can mean anything, the Indians will need to take care of business against the bottom two teams in the NYCBL’s Eastern Division.

Rome hosts the Plattsburgh Thunder in a doubleheader at DeLutis Field on Saturday starting at 1pm. Then on Sunday, Rome hosts Watertown at 7pm in a makeup of the game that was rained out on Tuesday.

Box Scores

Mohawk Valley	000	000	000 001	-	1	7	5
Plattsburgh	000	000	000 000	-	0	1	1

WP: Seth Crossett
LP: Chase Houtari (2-1)

2B: MV – Dennis Diaz
    Rome – Cory Newman

Time: 3:02
Rome (15-14) Mohawk Valley (19-13)