Richfield defeats Hoosick Falls at Fort Plain tournament
FORT PLAIN — The last time senior pitcher Dan Greer took the mound
for Richfield Springs, his 11-strikeout, seven-inning performance was
all for naught as the Indians’ season-opening tilt at
Oppenheim-Ephratah was suspended due to weather and darkness with the
scored at the 2.
In his second start of the young season, however, a victory would
not elude the impressive-looking work hoarse as Richfield Springs got
on track behind Greer’s second straight complete-game performance with
a 4-3 win against Section II’s Hoosick Falls in round one of the 13th
Annual Richard T. Bower Memorial Baseball Tournament hosted by Fort
Plain last Friday afternoon.
Though Greer didn’t reach double digits in strikeouts like he did
against Oppenheim, the right-hander was similarly dominant vs. the
Panthers, allowing just three runs — two earned — on six hits while
striking out seven and walking only two.
Hoosick Falls didn’t even record its first base hit of the game
until managing a routine single to right with two outs in the bottom of
the fifth, but when the Panthers struck for back-to-back RBI singles
later in the frame, the contest was suddenly tied up at 2.
That’s when Richfield just as quickly resumed control of the game
one-half inning later in the top of the sixth with an RBI single by
Luke Soposki and a sacrifice fly by Nick Sovocool (the Indians’ No. 8
and 9 batters in the lineup, respectively), and after Hoosick Falls
added an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh to make its deficit
4-3, Greer finished what he started by striking out the Panthers’
cleanup hitter with two outs and the tying run on third to end it.
“This was a big win,” said Greer, who primarily relied on his
mid-to-upper-80s-mile-per-hour fastball to get batters out, but whose
repertoire also includes a slider, curve ball, knuckle ball and change
up. “Hopefully we can get rolling now and win some more games.”
“His arm is strong because he’s been pitching for a long time, so
we’re not too worried about him getting tired,” said Richfield Springs
second-year manager, Chris Furnare, of Greer’s ability to go the
distance. “He’s got a lot of confidence in his ability and he fought
hard today. We also got a few hits and the defense played well, but
we’ve still got to get a lot better.”
In addition to Soposki’s RBI single and Sovocool’s sacrifice fly in
the sixth, senior centerfielder Kyle Richards contributed an RBI single
in the fifth for a 2-0 lead, while fellow Indians Ryan Wratten, Chad
Stone (who started at catcher in place of the vacationing Kevin
Cooper), junior Dave Southard and Jake Sawicki all chipped in with
singles.
Richfield Springs resumes its regular-season schedule with three
games this week against West Canada Valley (Monday), at Oriskany
(Wednesday) and Westmoreland (Friday).
(Friday, April 21)
RS 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 — 4 7 3
HF 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 — 3 6 4
Dan Greer and Chad Stone; Tom St. Hilaire and Pete McDonuagh. W - Greer (1-0), L - St. Hilaire. 2B - (HF) Kris Mosely.
Records: Richfield Springs (0-0, 1-2); Hoosick Falls 3-3.
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