In their final game of the winter season, the Cicero Rattlers faced Syracuse Baseball Club at the Sports Center Arena.
On this night, Cicero introduced their newest player to Rattlers fans as Tyler Hildreth got the start at 3rd base.
Starting on the mound for the Rattlers was Kenton ‘KJ’ Cochran. He faced a tough first inning, giving up 4 runs off of walks and an error as Cicero was unable to bring in any runs.
Cochran held SBC scoreless in the second inning, which led way to a 6-run bottom of the 2nd for the Rattlers thanks to a number of walks mixed with hits. Cochran wouldn’t give up any more runs as he pitched through the 4th inning.
With the Rattlers leading 6-4, a number of walks and some hits brought in another 5 runs in the 4th inning to make the score 11-4.
Lucas Thelen took over for Cochran to start the 5th inning, got himself out of a challenging, bases-loaded situation, and finished the game without giving up any runs. Thelen also led the team on offense, with 3 hits, 1 walk and multiple stolen bases and runs scored.
The Rattlers would get one more run in the 6th inning to put the final score at 12-4.
Highlight plays of the game:
Sean Bombard made a great catch of a fly ball off the ceiling and was able to make a quick throw to Nicholas Capece at 2nd base to catch a runner for the double-play.
Tag play at home by Luke Crawford to prevent a run from scoring.
Nice running catch and throw by Hildreth to get the put-out to 1B.
Smart play by Luke Crawford (2B) and Lucas Thelen (P), who teamed up to nab a runner at second base who wasn’t paying attention with a big lead.
Starting lineup for the Rattlers for Saturday, 3/27:
Daniel Capp C
KJ Cochran P
Nicholas Capece SS
Lucas Thelen 1B
Luke Crawford 2B
Tyler Hildreth 3B
Sean Bombard RF
Connor Pearce LF
Missing from this game: Jacob Calabria, Jacob Sadowski
Team Quote: “You only fail when you stop trying.”
MVP for this game was Lucas Thelen for his offensive performance and for closing out the game as pitcher without giving up an runs.
Photo: KJ Cochran (P) warms up on the mound as Luke Crawford (2B) and Nicholas Capece (SS) look for the throw-down from Daniel Capp (C).