O-TIGERS ’05

By P.J. Harmer

Staff Writer

ONEONTA — Jeff Larish finally got some pitches to hit at Damaschke Field.

Larish, Detroit’s fifth-round draft pick this year, finished 2-for-3 with a three-run home run to lead the Oneonta Tigers to a 12-2 victory over the Tri-City ValleyCats in front of 457 at Damaschke on Thursday.

Larish, who was brought up to Oneonta from the Gulf Coast League Tigers on Aug. 18, walked on a total of nine pitches during his first two at-bats Wednesday in a 4-0 victory over Tri-City. He grounded out in his third at-bat.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]On Thursday, he walked and struck out in his first two at-bats. He singled and scored in the fifth, then hit his fourth homer in eight days in the seventh.

"I finally got a pitch to hit and was fortunate to do some damage with it," said lefty Larish, who pulled his home run on an 0-1 pitch over the right-field wall. "I was looking for a pitch over the plate. He left a change-up up and I hit it pretty good."

The O-Tigers (38-23) swept a three-game set with the ValleyCats and stayed three games ahead of Lowell in the New York-Penn League’s Stedler Division. Lowell (35-26) beat Vermont, 3-2, on Thursday.

"Every game is big right now," O-Tigers manager Tom Brookens said. "We know we have 14 left and every game is going to be a battle."

Oneonta plays host to Vermont at 7 tonight to begin a four-game series at Damaschke Field. Jay Sborz (1-1, 4.91 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Tigers.

Sendy Vasquez (6-0) pitched seven strong innings for the O-Tigers on Thursday. Vasquez scattered two hits and allowed one run. He struck out seven and walked two.

"I feel good for every game and try to do my best for the team," Vasquez said. "In the first and second innings, I wasn’t too controlled, but I had it the rest of the night. Every start I think about going seven or eight innings."

Oneonta also took advantage of 11 walks from Tri-City. Losing pitcher Eric Sheridan had five, including two in a three-run fourth that erased a 1-0 deficit for Oneonta.

Michael Hollimon led off the inning with a pop up into shallow center. Tri-City second baseman Wladimir Sutil drifted out but couldn’t make the catch, allowing Hollimon to reach on an error.

Larish struck out looking for the first out before Justice earned a full-count walk. Justice fouled off three balls during his nine-pitch at-bat.

Ryan Roberson followed with a walk to load the bases. Hollimon scored on a passed ball with Mark Haske up, as Justice and Roberson each advanced a base.

Tri-City then pulled the infield in, but Haske singled through the right side, scoring Justice and moving Roberson to third.

"I was seeing it well and I didn’t try anything different," said Haske, who finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs. "I had a situational at-bat (in the fourth) and that was probably my most important at-bat."

Roberson capped the scoring in the fourth when he came home on a wild pitch by Sheridan.

"When you get as many walks as we did, you should put pretty good numbers on the board," Brookens said. "It’s one of those games where their pitchers didn’t get it done and we took advantage."

Roberson and Haske had run-scoring singles in the fifth to make it 5-1. The Tigers added two in the six and blew the game open in the seventh with five runs. Larish closed the scoring in the seventh with his homer.

Matt Joyce finished 3-for-5, including two runs and an RBI for Oneonta.

Tri-City’s Neil Sellers hit his 11th homer of the season in the ninth, a shot off the scoreboard in left-center off Jake Baxter.

———

P.J. Harmer can be reached at pharmer@thedailystar.com or 607-432-1000, ext. 229.

THURSDAY’S O-TIGERS BOX SCORE

TRI-CITY ÐØ Ø ONEONTA Ø Ø

ab r h bi Ø ÐØÐØØØ ab r h bi

Sutil 2b 3Ø0Ø0Ø0 Rhymes 2b 4Ø2Ø1Ø1

King dh 4Ø0Ø2Ø1 Joyce rf 5Ø2Ø3Ø1

Sellrs 1b/3b 4Ø1Ø1Ø1 Hollimon ss 5Ø1Ø0Ø0

Cnninghm rf 2Ø0Ø0Ø0 Larish 1b 3Ø2Ø2Ø3

Parraz cf 4Ø0Ø0Ø0 Justice cf 1Ø1Ø0Ø0

Thompsn 3b 2Ø0Ø0Ø0 Robersn dh 3Ø1Ø0Ø1

Ori 1b 1Ø0Ø0Ø0 Haske 3b 4Ø1Ø3Ø2

Manzella ss 3Ø0Ø0Ø0 Timm lf 4Ø1Ø0Ø0

Goethals c 2Ø1Ø0Ø0 Roa c 4Ø1Ø1Ø0

Cooper lf 2Ø0Ø0Ø0 Torres c 0Ø0Ø0Ø0

Totals ÐØ 27Ø2 3Ø2 Totals ÐÐ 331210Ø8

Tri-City 001 000 001 — 2 3 1

Oneonta 000 322 50x — 12 10 0

E—Sutil (5). DP—Tri-City 2, Oneonta 2. LOB—Tri-City 4, Oneonta 8. 2B—King (8), Rhymes (7). HR—Sellers (11), Larish (4). S Sutil.

IPÐÐHÐRERÐBBÐSO

ÐTri-City ÐØ ÐØ ÐØ ÐØ ÐØØØ ÐØÐØ

Sheridan L, 1-2 Ø4ØØØØ1ÐØ3ÐØ1ÐØ5ÐØ3

Bogusevic Ø1ØØØØ3ÐØ2ÐØ2ÐØ2ÐØ0

Himes Ø2ØØØØ6ÐØ7ÐØ7ÐØ4ÐØ1

Stricklen Ø1ØØØØ0ÐØ0ÐØ0ÐØ0ÐØ1

ÐOneonta ÐØ ÐØ ÐØ ÐØ ÐØ ÐØÐØ

Vasquez W, 6-0 Ø7ØØØØ2ÐØ1ÐØ1ÐØ2ÐØ7

Mahoney Ø1ØØØØ0ÐØ0ÐØ0ÐØ1ÐØ1

Baxter Ø1ØØØØ1ÐØ1ÐØ1ÐØ0ÐØ1

HBP by Vasquez (Cunningham, Thompson).

WP—Sheridan, Rimes. PB Goethals (5)

Umpires—Home, Chris Mack; Field Tom Crenshaw.

T—2:28. A—457.

NY-PENN STANDINGS

ØØWØØØLØØPct.ØØØGB

Staten Island (Yanks) Ø42ØØ19ØØ.689ØØØ—Ð

Williamsprt (Pirates) Ø35ØØ27ØØ.565ÐØØ7½

Brooklyn (Mets) Ø33ØØ28ØØ.541ÐØØ9Ð

New Jersey (Cards) Ø30ØØ32ØØ.484ÐØ12½

Hudsn Vlly (DRays) Ø26ØØ34ØØ.433ÐØ15½

Aberdeen (Orioles) Ø22ØØ39ØØ.361ÐØ20Ð

ØØWØØØLØØPct.ØØØGB

Auburn (Blue Jays) Ø34ØØ28ØØ.548ØØØ—Ð

Mhning Vlly (Indians) Ø30ØØ32ØØ.484ÐØØ4Ð

Batavia (Phillies) Ø27ØØ34ØØ.443ÐØØ6½

Jamestown (Marlins) Ø27ØØ35ØØ.435ÐØØ7Ð

ØØWØØØLØØPct.ØØØGB

Oneonta (Tigers) Ø38ØØ23ØØ.623ØØØ—Ð

Lowell (Red Sox) Ø35ØØ26ØØ.574ÐØØ3Ð

Tri-City (Astros) Ø30ØØ32ØØ.484ÐØØ8½

Vermont (Nationals) Ø21ØØ41ØØ.339ÐØ17½

Auburn 4, Batavia 3

Brooklyn 7, Williamsport 5

Staten Island 3, Hudson Valley 2

Jamestown 2, Mahoning Valley 0

Lowell 3, Vermont 2

Aberdeen 5, New Jersey 3

Oneonta 12, Tri-City 2

Auburn at Mahoning Valley

Batavia at Jamestown

Brooklyn at Staten Island

New Jersey at Hudson Valley

Tri-City at Lowell

Vermont at Oneonta

Williamsport at Aberdeen

Auburn at Mahoning Valley

New Jersey at Hudson Valley

Staten Island at Brooklyn

Tri-City at Lowell

Vermont at Oneonta

Williamsport at Aberdeen