Indians Drop Two To Mohawks
Local natives end season with team

by Scott Montesano
Rome Indians Marketing Intern

(Rome, NY) The Rome Indians saw their 2002 season come to an end with a pair of losses to the league leading Schenectady Mohawks Monday night at DeLutis Field.

Schenectady came-from-behind to win the opener 6-4, and then held on for a 2-1 win in the nightcap.

The losses dropped the Indians record to 18-22, and means Rome fell short of their goal of finishing above .500 for the third straight season.

Rome’s season now comes to an end. The Indians doubleheader at Cortland Tuesday was postponed Monday afternoon.

Along with ending the season, Monday’s doubleheader also meant the end of Rome native Kevin Ryan’s NYCBL career. Ryan will be a senior this fall at St. Bonaventure, making him ineligible for summer collegiate league’s next summer.

Ryan spent all three of his NYCBL eligible years with his hometown Indians. His career ends with a superb .252 average and impressive 43 RBIs. Both are above average for this level of baseball.

Utica native Matt Devins also ended the season with the Indians Monday. Devins’s first wood-bat season started slowly at the plate but improved steadily. Devins finished with a .181 average. However, Devins hit .363 over the final week of the season. Devins will be a sophomore this fall at SUNY-Stony Brook and will be eligible to return to Rome next summer.

On Monday, second-year manager Bill Kurich made sure everyone saw time. Many players spent time out of their usual positions, and pitchers even had a couple of opportunities to hit.

Jeff Justice and Mike Weckenman each had two hits on the evening for the Indians.

As for Schenectady, the sweep gives them a 30-12 record and gives that franchise a milestone. Schenectady is the first team to win 30 games since the 1994 Cohocton Red Wings won 31.

Box Scores

Game 1

					R	H	E
Rome	301	000	0	-	4	10	3
Schenectady	120	030		-	6	8	0

Rome: Pat Dougherty, Nick DeMaro (3), David Rodriguez (6); Kyle Mihalski
Schenectady: Avi Rasowski, Paul Carufe (7); JJ Yant

WP: Avi Rasowski (N/A)
LP: Pat Dougherty (2-3)
S: Paul Carufe

2B: Schenectady – Bryan Triplett
3B: Schenectady – Nick Shimer

Game 2

					R	H	E
Rome	000	001	0	-	1	3	2
Schenectady	101	000		-	2	6	2

Rome: Jeremy O’Neill, Kyle Barrett (3), Kyle Mihalski (5), Jeff Justice (6); Soren Johnson
Schenectady: Chris Hartnett

WP: Chris Hartnett (N/A)
LP: Jeremy O’Neill (0-1)

No Extra Basehits

Rome (18-22) Schenectady (30-12)