Indians Win Extra-Inning Thriller
Rome defeats Mohawk Valley in 10 Innings

by Scott Montesano
Rome Indians Marketing Intern

(Rome, NY) The 2002 Rome Indians season may not have gone the way many would have hoped. However, with the season winding down, the Indians provided both themselves, and an enthusiastic crowd, with a memorable victory Sunday afternoon at DeLutis Field.

Rome overcame a one-run deficit in the ninth, and then plated a run in the tenth to defeat their local rivals the Mohawk Valley Red Legs 4-3.

The win gives the Indians the season series against Mohawk Valley 5-3. In addition, it provides some validation for Rome, since it was Mohawk Valley’s hot streak in July that knocked the Indians out of playoff contention.

For the longest time, it seemed as though the Indians would only need one run to earn the exciting victory. Kyle Mihalski gave the Indians a 1-0 lead in the fourth with an RBI single to center that scored Kyle Barrett. Barrett had reached on an infield fielding error.

That lead would hold up until the eight inning, when Mohawk Valley finally broke through on Indians’ starter Chase Huotari. Consecutive singles by John Boom and Jason Sullivan put runners at the corners with no outs. Dennis Diaz followed with an RBI squeeze bunt that scored Sullivan and made it 1-1.

Rome retook the lead in the eighth on an RBI single by Cory Newman that scored Jeremy O’Neill.

However, Mohawk Valley-winners of 9 of the last 11– seemed as though they would steal another victory in the top of the ninth. Matt Pali walked and Fernando Alvarez singled to start the inning. After an infield ground out put the runners at second and third, Adrian Casanova followed with a two-run single that made it 3-2.

Nonetheless, the rally didn’t impress the Indians, who still had one more comeback up their sleeves.

Mihalski singled and went to second when the leftfielder misplayed the ball. A sacrifice bunt by Kevin Ryan moved Mihalski to third. With the infield in to cut off the run, Damian Blakeley hit a groundball directly at the shortstop Diaz. Diaz immediately threw home to get Mihalski trying to score. The ball beat Mihalski to the plate, however the Trinity University product showed complete disregard for his health and barreled into catcher Adam Schorr. The collision caused Schorr to drop the ball, giving him an error, and allowing Mihalski to score the tying run.

The ninth inning run was only the Indians second all-season.

In the tenth, Cory Newman hit a one-out triple to leftfield, and then scored when the next batter, Kyle Barrett, hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield.

The win gives Rome a 3-3 record in extra inning games.

Fueling the Indians was the most passionate crowd of the season. As the game moved into the later innings, the relatively large crowd became quite vocal.

Chase Huotari pitched nine solid innings for Rome, allowing two runs on three hits. In fact, Huotari didn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning.

Soren Johnson pitched a scoreless tenth to get the win and move to 2-4.

Kyle Mihalski went 3-4 for Rome, while Cory Newman chipped in a 2-5 outing.

For Mohawk Valley, Jason Sullivan had two hits.

The Indians are now 18-20 heading into a doubleheader Monday afternoon against Schenectady. Game time at DeLutis Field is scheduled for 4pm. This is a makeup of the rained out doubleheader last Friday in Schenectady. Scheduling concerns forced the games to be moved to Rome.

The Indians will end their season Tuesday afternoon with a doubleheader at Cortland.

Box Scores

WP: Soren Johnson (2-4)
LP: Matt Cuttruff (N/A)

2B: Kyle Mihalski
3B: Cory Newman

Time: 2:41

Rome (18-20) Mohawk Valley (26-16)