Somers baseball powers past Brewster

SOMERS, N.Y. - On Friday, April 25, Somers appeared to break the game open in the bottom of the sixth on a pair of homers by Andrew Kapica and Jake Hopper. An 8-2 game with three outs to go, Brewster suddenly had the tying run at the plate with one out. So JT Genovese kept it simple at the helm.

“He’s a sinker guy,” said manager James Radding. “I was hoping to get a ground ball.” 

And the reliever delivered with a game-ending double play.

A big relief for the home crowd, Brewster did damage at the beginning of the game too. After Sandro Velardo walked with one out, Troy Vasquez lifted a fly to deep left that Justin Thomas tracked but could not come up with.

Good for second and third, Justin Parodi stroked a single to right, and Brewster was on the board. Up came Chase Prohaszka, and a fly ball to right looked good for a 2-0 lead.

Not so fast, as Alex Hoffman had other ideas. 

“When he’s out there, he lets it rip,” said Genovese, and the perfect throw to the plate retired the side.

No response in the bottom of the inning, so Ryan McAuley answered on the mound. Two strikeouts and a ground out to first settled the Tuskers, and then the sophomore cued up the offense.  

“I just went up there hoping I could get a pitch to hit,” the starter said.

He smoked a line drive into left and got to second on Kapica’s high hopper to short. Joe Dwyer then walked, and Thomas gave Somers the lead for good with a two-run double.

Of course, the game was far from over, and with a runner on second with two outs, Brewster had a tie in their sights when Vasquez singled to the wrong place. “He’s electric out there,” said Genovese, and Hoffman struck again. 

His second assist on the play, simply firing the laser wasn’t all the manager marveled at. 

“It’s his first year back from reconstructive surgery,” revealed Genovese.

Aiden Fisher didn’t miss a beat, though. Three up and three down, the baton passed back to McAuley, and with his teammates in his hip pocket, he registered another donut. “I know my defense and offense have my back. So all I was trying to do was pitch my game,” said the Tusker.

Contributing to his own cause, McAuley again led off a rally with a line single to left, and next, the Brewster defense did their part. Thomas reached first on an error at second, and Venturini made the most of the miscue with an RBI single to right.

3-1, the defense backed their pitcher’s boast in the top of the fifth. After Beckett Grutzner reached on an infield hit, Dwyer removed Brewster’s rally caps. He cut down Grutzner trying to steal, and McAuley took it from there. Mixing his pitches, the slow stuff caught Will Galella looking and Mike Subin helplessly waving.

Fisher matched up in the fifth, but the sixth had the Somers starter one upped and outed.  Vasquez reached on a high bouncer, Prohaszka walked, and Kaden Anderson’s single sent McAuley to the dugout with a 3-2 lead.

In came Gavin Kelly with runners on the corners and a ground ball to Bracelin at third had Genovese loving his reliever’s jam. “He stopped that rally right there,” he said. “So we could end up putting up a five spot.”

Kapica didn’t wait to get started either.  “I was looking for a fastball down the middle, and I got it,” he said.

A lead-off homer, Dwyer was hit next, and after Thomas struck out swinging, Venturini’s ground ball between third and short was good enough. An infield hit, Hopper was more than happy with the location he received. “Inside,” he beamed, “my favorite pitch.”

Three runs in with the blast, a bat flip is not part of the shortstop’s game. “I try to act like I've been there before,” he joked.

Even so, Somers wasn’t done. Hoffman walked, Bracelin singled, and Lorenzo D’Ambrosio doubled in run number eight.

Plenty of margin for error, three walks and single made the case. Still, Genovese had Kelly’s back. “We’ve asked him a bit more by coming out of the pen, so he was out of rhythm,” said the manager. 

Radding’s turn, he began by hitting Parodi. “It didn’t even strike a nerve in my head,” said the junior.

A cutter later, the ball made a beeline to third. “Pat over there is a vacuum,” Radding concluded. “I knew he was going to eat it up."