The Cicero Rattlers earned another victory on Monday night with a 2-0 win over the Central Square Redhawks at Santaro Park in Clay, NY.
Both teams came ready to play, as pitchers battled through the first 3 innings without giving up any runs.
Connor Pearce started on the mound for the Rattlers and was successful through two innings, giving up only 1 hit and one walk, with one strikeout.
Kenton (KJ) Cochran came in for Pearce in the third inning and put in an impressive performance toeing the rubber. He went for 4 innings with 6 strikeouts, 1 walk and 5 hits, giving up no runs.
Alex Sanes-Carmona came in to finish the game for the Cicero Rattlers. After giving up a walk to start, he struck out 3-straight batters with glove-popping pitches to end the game – and seal the victory.
A blurry pair of middle-infielders, Conor Downer and Nicholas Capece after the win.
Cicero’s defense played a solid game. Infield put-outs by Nicholas Capece (ss), Conor Downer (2b), Jack Clary (1b), Cochran (p), Michael Mooney (C), Lucas Thelen (1b) and Connor Pearce (p) kept the Redhawks off the board. Multiple outfield catches by Lucas Thelen (lf) and one each by Daniel Capp (rf) and Cochran (rf), took potential big hits away from the Redhawks.
On offense, Cicero was kept off the scoreboard through 3-innings. The Redhawks pitchers, Boyce and Detor, did a respectable job from the mound, with 8 walks, 3 hits and 14 strikeouts.
Despite several opportunities to score earlier, the fourth inning was when Cicero took the lead and kept it.
Conor Downer lead off with a walk and was advanced by a single hit by Lucas Thelen. With Nicholas Capece at bat, both Downer and Thelen stole their way to 3rd and 2nd bases.
Downer was tagged out trying to get home on a Capece bunt, leaving Thelen on third and Capece on first. With Cochran at bat, Capece stole 2nd base. Thelen then stole home after a snap throw from the catcher got past 3rd base. Cochran then sent a single to right field, scoring a hard-running Capece to make the score 2-0, Cicero.
With the score still 2-0 in the 6th inning, and Cochran pitching, a hit and walk put runners on 1st and 2nd for the Redhawks. Both advanced on a ball in play, leaving the game-tying runners at 2nd and 3rd base.
With the go-ahead run at bat, a hard line-drive was caught by Mooney at SS, who went on to beat the runner (who did not tag up) back to second base for the double-play. If the hit got past him, the Redhawks were assured of bringing in both runs to tie up the game.
It was a big play that brought cheers from Rattlers fans — and helped preserve Cicero’s lead as the score remained 2-0 in their favor for the rest of the game. It also helped earn Mooney the team MVP on the night for turning in a game-saving play.
The Cicero Rattlers remain undefeated.
Their next scheduled game is 10/11 against Syracuse RBI at Santaro field.