O-TIGERS ’05

By Joe Lemire

Contributing Writer

Not even a torrential pr

Star photo by Anita Briggs Burke Badenhop of the Oneonta Tigers pitches in the first inning Friday at Damaschke Field. Badenhop allowed four runs _ one earned _ and struck out six in six innings.

egame downpour could wash away the Oneonta Tigers’ longest skid of the season.

Intense thunderstorms moved through the area two hours before the first pitch Friday at Damaschke Field, and Oneonta’s bats seemed heavy in the face of Williamsport’s pitching.

Oneonta finished with three hits in a 6-2 New York-Penn League setback against the streaking Crosscutters, who sent the Tigers to their fourth consecutive loss.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]Oneonta, which dropped all three of its home games against the Brooklyn Cyclones earlier this week, remained atop the Stedler Division with an 18-10 record. The Tigers lead the Lowell Spinners (18-13) — 5-4 winners over the Staten Island Yankees on Friday — by 1½ games.

The Crosscutters improved to 19-12 with their 10th straight victory to pull within one game of Staten Island for the top spot in the McNamara Division.

Oneonta starter Burke Badenhop (2-2) made a costly error with his team ahead, 2-1, in the fifth.

With the bases loaded and two out, Crosscutters designated hitter James Boone hit a grounder that forced first baseman Ryan Roberson to range to his left. He flipped the ball to Badenhop, who was covering first, but the pitcher dropped the ball as he looked down to touch the bag.

"I was coming in and he was coming across," Roberson said of the flubbed play, which allowed the tying run to score. "It was just a bobble, I don’t know. We practice that a lot, but it didn’t work out for us."

Two pitches later, Steven Pearce turned on a fastball. His sharp grounder poked through the hole on the left side of the infield for a two-run single.

"Pearce came up with the big, two-out hit with two RBIs after the error," Williamsport manager Tom Prince said, "and that’s the difference in the game."

Earlier in the inning, the Crosscutters benefited from an overturned call.

A 1-1 pitch to Williamsport catcher Brandon Reddinger was deflected near the plate. Home-plate umpire Chris Hamner originally ruled it a foul tip, but after Prince asked for an appeal, field umpire Andy Russell changed the call to a hit by pitch.

"I can tell the difference between (the sound of) a foul tip and flesh," Prince said. "I just asked him if he would ask the other umpire and he did."

Oneonta manager Tom Brookens, however, said he took exception with how the call was made.

"He said the ball went off the bat and then they discussed it," Brookens said. "They said there was a mark on his arm, so they appealed to the second-base umpire, who said that the ball hit him. My argument was, ’Now you’re going to change your mind because they’re starting to argue?’ "

The Tigers took the early lead with a two-run first, but Williamsport got out of further trouble with a double play.

With the bases loaded, Roberson blooped an RBI single into shallow center before Matthew Joyce drew a full-count walk for a 2-0 lead.

On the next pitch, Leo Grullon flew out to short-center. Michael Hollimon tagged up from third and attempted to score, but center fielder Brad Corley one-hopped a throw to the plate for the back end of a double play.

"We had (Crosscutters starting pitcher Dave Davidson) on the ropes in the first inning but let him off with the throw out at the plate," Brookens said. "In the first inning, we probably should have come away with a few more runs than we did."

William Rhymes added his second single of the game in the second inning, but that counted as the Tigers’ third and final hit. Oneonta had one more baserunner the rest of the game as Grullon was hit by a pitch.

Williamsport retired the last 17 Oneonta batters in order.

"We never really manufactured offensively tonight, which is rare for us, because we’ve had a good offensive club all season," Brookens said.

After throwing 64 pitches in the first three innings, Davidson was relieved by Luis Valdez, who struck out five in five innings of no-hit relief en route to his first victory of the season. He entered with 0-2 record and a 7.00 ERA.

"He threw the ball very aggressively," Prince said of Valdez. "He had command of the strike zone with slider and fastball and mixed in a couple of change-ups. His focus was outstanding."

Said Roberson, who finished 1-for-4: "He had pretty good sting on his fastball, and he could drop in the slider. When you’re throwing pitches for strikes and can locate pretty well, it’s tough to beat. We hit a lot of balls right at them. We couldn’t catch any breaks."

The Crosscutters added two insurance runs in the last three innings off Tigers relievers Jay Baxter and Kevin Whelan.

FRIDAY’S O-TIGERS BOX SCORE

WILLIAMSPORT ÐØ Ø ONEONTA ÐØ Ø

ab r h bi Ø ÐØÐØØØ ab r h bi

Blair ss 4Ø1Ø0Ø0 Rhymes 2b 4Ø1Ø2Ø0

Gndstrnd 3b 5Ø2Ø2Ø1 Timm lf 3Ø1Ø0Ø0

Boone dh 5Ø0Ø1Ø0 Hollimon ss 3Ø0Ø0Ø0

Pearce 1b 5Ø0Ø2Ø3 Middltn 3b 4Ø0Ø0Ø0

Santiago 2b 5Ø0Ø0Ø0 Robersn 1b 4Ø0Ø1Ø1

Corley cf 3Ø0Ø1Ø0 Joyce rf 3Ø0Ø0Ø1

Searage lf 3Ø1Ø0Ø0 Grullon dh 2Ø0Ø0Ø0

Reddingr c 3Ø1Ø1Ø0 Williamsn c 3Ø0Ø0Ø0

Stevens rf 1Ø1Ø0Ø0 Laster cf 3Ø0Ø0Ø0

Totals ÐØ 34Ø6Ø7Ø4 Totals ÐÐ 29 2 3 2

Williamsport 000130101 6

Oneonta 200000000 2

E—Pierce (4), Badenhop (1), Hollimon (7). DP—Williamsport 1. LOB—Williamsport 8, Oneonta 4. 2B—Pearce (6). 3B Grandstrand (1). SB—Grandstrand (1), Stevens (2). CS—Corley (4), Rhymes (1). S—Stevens.

IPÐÐHÐRERÐBBÐSO

ÐWilliamsport ÐØ ÐØ ÐØ ÐØ ÐØØ ÐØÐØ

Davidson Ø3ØØØØ3ÐØ2ÐØ2ÐØ2ÐØ5

Valdez W, 1-2 Ø5ØØØØ0ÐØ0ÐØ0ÐØ0ÐØ5

Cuffman Ø1ØØØØ0ÐØ0ÐØ0ÐØ0ÐØ0

ÐOneontaÐØ ÐØ ÐØ ÐØ ÐØØ ÐØÐØ

Badenhop L, 2-2 Ø6ØØØØ4ÐØ4ÐØ1ÐØ3ÐØ6

Baxter Ø2ØØØØ3ÐØ1ÐØ0ÐØ1ÐØ3

Whelan Ø1ØØØØ0ÐØ1ÐØ0ÐØ0ÐØ2

PB Williamson

WP Whelan

Balk Whelan

HBP Hollimon (by Davidson), Grullon (by Valdez), Reddinger (by Badenhop), Stevens (by Baxter).

Umpires—Home, Chris Hamner; First, Andrew Russell.

T—2:37. A—879.

NY-PENN LEAGUE STANDINGS

ØØWØØØLØØPct.ØØØGB

Staten Island (Yanks) Ø19ØØ10ØØ.655ØØØ—Ð

Williamsprt (Pirates) Ø19ØØ12ØØ.613ÐØØ1Ð

Brooklyn (Mets) Ø18ØØ12ØØ.600ÐØØ1½

Hudson Vlley (Rays) Ø14ØØ15ØØ.483ÐØØ5Ð

New Jersey (Cards) Ø14ØØ17ØØ.452ÐØØ6Ð

Aberdeen (Orioles) Ø11ØØ19ØØ.367ÐØØ8½

ØØWØØØLØØPct.ØØØGB

Auburn (Blue Jays) Ø16ØØ13ØØ.552ØØØ—Ð

Mahnng Vly (Indians) Ø17ØØ14ØØ.548ØØØ—Ð

Jamestown (Marlins) Ø14ØØ17ØØ.452ÐØØ3Ð

Batavia (Phillies) Ø11ØØ18ØØ.379ÐØØ5Ð

ØØWØØØLØØPct.ØØØGB

Oneonta (Tigers) Ø18ØØ10ØØ.643ØØØ—Ð

Lowell (Red Sox) Ø18ØØ13ØØ.581ÐØØ1½

Tri-City (Astros) Ø12ØØ16ØØ.429ÐØØ6Ð

Vermont (Nationals) ØØ8ØØ23ØØ.258ÐØ11½

———

Hudson Valley 6, Batavia 3

Brooklyn 11, Jamestown 1

Mahoning Valley 6, Aberdeen 5

New Jersey 11, Vermont 3

Lowell 5, Staten Island 4

Williamsport 6, Oneonta 2

Auburn at Tri-City

Auburn at Tri-City

Batavia at Hudson Valley

Jamestown at Brooklyn

Mahoning Valley at Aberdeen

New Jersey at Vermont

Staten Island at Lowell

Williamsport at Oneonta

Auburn at Tri-City

Batavia at Hudson Valley

Jamestown at Brooklyn

Mahoning Valley at Aberdeen

New Jersey at Vermont

Staten Island at Lowell

Williamsport at Oneonta