Rome Falls to Watertown
by Scott Montesano
Rome Indians Marketing Intern
(Rome, NY) Brian Lindsay's two-out RBI single in the eighth was enough to propel the Watertown Wizards to a 6-4 victory over the Rome Indians Sunday night at DeLutis Field.
With runners at the corners and no one out, Indians relief pitcher Nick Secchini was able to get two infield flyouts.
Secchini then got two strikes on Lindsay and appeared as though he would get out of the jam. However, Lindsay hit a groundball single to centerfield to score Chris Papst and give Watertown a 5-4 lead.
A wild pitch in the ninth gave Watertown the 6-4 advantage.
Secchini took the loss out the bullpen for the Indians to drop to 0-2 on the season. In a span of three days, the Indians newcomer suffered two defeats in relief but that record only tells part of the story.
In this game, Secchini relieved starter Nick DeMaro in the seventh and was able to work out of a bases loaded jam to keep the score tied 4-4 at the time.
On Friday against Mohawk Valley, Secchini pitched three strong innings of relief, and was only hurt by a pair of seeing-eye singles.
DeMaro started for the Indians and went 6.1 innings allowing only one earned run on three hits. Soren Johnson pitched the final out in the ninth inning.
The Indians did strike first in this game. In the fourth inning, Kyle Barrett had a one-out RBI single that plated Tarron Acuff and Jeremy O'Neill to give Rome a 2-0 advantage.
Nevertheless, Watertown came storming back in the fifth with four runs on two hits to grab the lead.
The Indians tied the game in the sixth thanks to a Watertown error and an RBI single by Kevin Ryan.
With the loss the Indians' playoff chances are dimming, but not over with yet. The Indians trail Mohawk Valley by 5.5 games after Sunday's loss and the Red Legs sweep of Plattsburgh in a doubleheader.
Rome still has ten games remaining on the schedule, including two left with Mohawk Valley.
Rome returns to action Monday night at Watertown starting at 7pm.
Box Scores
| R | H | E | LOB | ||||||
| Watertown | 000 | 040 | 011 | - | 6 | 6 | 1 | 3 | |
| Rome | 000 | 202 | 000 | - | 4 | 6 | 3 | 6 |
WP: Stephen Spragg
LP: Nick Secchini
2B: Rome - Tarron Acuff
Time: 2:45
Rome (15-17) Watertown (12-20)