Wyatt Pitches Indians to Win
Right-hander Strikeouts 10 in Victory over Watertown

by Scott Montesano
Rome Indians Marketing Intern

(Watertown, NY) Blake Wyatt struck out ten and walked just one over seven innings on the mound as the Rome Indians defeated the Watertown Wizards 5-0 Monday night at the Alex T. Duffy Fairgrounds.

The victory, coupled with Mohawk Valley’s two losses in Wellsville Monday afternoon, catapult the Indians to only four games out of a playoff spot.

The win also snaps a five game losing skid for the Indians.

For a team that had seen virtually everything that could go wrong, go wrong during the losing streak, Monday’s game was refreshing.

This time it was the Indians capitalizing on even the most miniscule mistake by their opposition. Instead of balls going directly at fielder’s gloves, hits found holes and few scoring chances were squandered.

Wyatt sparked the Indians, mystifying Watertown hitters with his side arm motion en route to earning his fifth win of the season.

The University of Indianapolis standout scattered five hits over seven innings and was never in a serious jam against a Wizards team that he has now defeated twice this season.

Wyatt was Rome’s winning pitcher for the season opener in Watertown on June 7.

Utica native, Matt Devins paced an opportunistic Indians’ offense that pounced on every Watertown defensive mistake. Devins went 2-3 with two RBIs and a run scored.

Meanwhile, Rome native Kevin Ryan added two runs scored and Jeff Justice had a double.

Centerfielder Cory Newman put a finishing touch on the victory with a crafty and deceiving play in the field in the eighth. With a runner at first and one down, Eric Meacham hit a routine flyball to centerfield. Newman pretended to lose sight of the ball in an attempt to draw the runner off of first base. Newman then recovered to make the catch. As soon as he made the catch, he threw the ball to first basemen Kevin Ryan who tagged a surprised runner to complete a double play. By the time Newman pulled off the rare double play, the Indians had staked themselves out to a 5-0 lead.

A sacrifice fly by Ryan in the second inning scored Justice to make it 1-0. Then in the third a sacrifice fly by Newman scored Matt Devins to give Rome a 2-0 lead. An inning later it was 4-0 Rome after the Indians took advantage of a wild pitch and a pair of passed balls. An RBI single in the sixth by Devins that scored Ryan made it 5-0.

Rome is now 10-1 all-time in Watertown, including a 2-1 record this season. The Indians will make one more trip to Watertown this Thursday night.

The Indians have Tuesday off but will continue their playoff push Wednesday afternoon in Plattsburgh for a 3pm doubleheader. Meanwhile, Mohawk Valley is also off until Wednesday night when they travel to Watertown.

Box Scores

WP: Blake Wyatt (5-2)
LP: John Sullivan (0-4)

2B: Rome – Jeff Justice
      Watertown – Rob Gladwell

Time: 2:40

Rome (16-17) Watertown (12-21)