Pink October Game for the Cicero Rattlers. Missing: Conor Downer, Johnny Wozniczka, Jacob Hebblethwaite
The Cicero Rattlers met up with Syracuse RBI on Friday night at Santaro Park for a Pink October game to raise awareness for breast cancer research.
Players and fans from both teams donned pink bracelets, clothing and pins knowing their donations were going to the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research fund.
Captains for Cicero on this night were Daniel Capp and Alex Sanes-Carmona.
Cicero started the first inning off with some excitement. Alex Sanes-Carmona and Conor Downer both led off with walks and stole their way to 2nd and 3rd bases. Carmona got caught in a pickle between 3rd base and home plate before Lucas Thelen, Nicholas Capece, KJ Cochran and Michael Mooney all followed with solid hits. Downer, Thelen and Capece scored before the top of the inning ended with the score at 3-0, in Cicero’s favor.
Syracuse RBI was the home team on this night, and they also came out strong. With Connor Pearce starting on the mound for Cicero, Syracuse tallied 4 runs on 5 hits. Ian, Owen, Evan and Reagan all scored in the first inning, giving them the 4-3 lead.
Cicero’s offense came out with 3 straight ground-ball outs to start the 2nd inning. Syracuse followed with 4 hits and 2 runs in the second inning before Sanes-Carmona came in to relieve Pearce on the mound. Two put-outs (Capece, Downer) ended the inning with the score 6-3, Syracuse.
Daniel Capp notched a hit in the bottom of the third and scored thanks to aggressive base-running, making the score 6-4. Sanes-Carmona dominated in the third inning, impressively striking out 3 straight batters to end the inning.
The fourth inning included a deep hit single by Michael Mooney, which he turned into a run after a steal and solid base-running. Unfortunately, the inning stalled with the score at 6-5. For Sanes-Carmona, the 4th inning started out in the same way as the 3rd inning did – with 3 straight strikeouts that pumped up Rattlers players and fans.
Cicero came out playing strong, smart baseball in the 5th inning. Walks by Sanes-Carmona, Downer, Capece and Cochran mixed with aggressive base-running and hits by Capp and Thelen to put Cicero ahead with the score of 8-6. Runs were scored by Sanes-Carmona, Downer, Capp and Thelen. The inning ended on a collision play at first base between Sean Bombard and the 1st baseman – most thought Bombard was safe, but the field umpire called him out.
Sanes-Carmona continued his exciting night on the mound for the Rattlers. Two put-outs by Downer to Jack Clary led to two outs before 3 full-count walks loaded the bases. Sanes-Carmona kept his cool and got out of the inning with a strikeout..
The final inning for Syracuse had them facing Sanes-Carmona once again. A strikeout was followed by their first hit off the arm of Sanes-Carmona, by Jackson. His hit was followed by a strikeout for the 2nd out. A base hit by Ian brought in a run for Syracuse (Jackson), making the score 9-7.
Ian was now at 2nd base and the tying run, Owen, was at bat. Owen had 2 hits and 1 run in his 3 plate appearances so far. After battling his way to a full count, Owen ripped a line-drive towards right field – only to have it snagged out of the air by an alert Conor Downer to end the inning and game.
The MVP for the Cicero Rattlers on this night was Alex Sanes-Carmona for his dominant 4-inning performance (10 strikeouts, 1 run, 2 hits). He also scored 2 runs off of 2 walks.
Memorable Rattlers moments from the game:
- Exciting pitching performance by Alex-Sanes Carmona, including a nail-biter of an inning with bases loaded.
- Deep balls hit by Capp, Mooney and Thelen.
- Multiple put-outs with teamwork by middle infielders, Capece and Downer.
- Snag of a hard-hit line-drive by Downer to end the game
- Hard running by Sean Bombard that led to a 1st base collision.
- Put-out by Cochran (RF) to a stretching Thelen at 1st base for an out.
The Cicero Rattlers remain undefeated.