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Bellardini Silences Jammers’ Offense

Jamestown first baseman Ben Brookover tags out Geneva’s Garrett Uhl after a fourth-inning rundown during their Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League game Saturday at Diethrick Park in Jamestown. P-J photo by Cody Crandall

The Geneva Red Wings plated three runs in the sixth inning and four runs in the eighth inning to break open a 1-1 ballgame and cruise to an eventual 9-1 win over the Jamestown Jammers Saturday night in Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League action at Diethrick Park.

Alex Bellardini, a right-hander out of Youngstown State University, hurled seven strong innings on the hill in the win and struck out four while Justin Barr, Mikey Arman and Joseph Tassin all contributed two hits each in the victory.

Jamestown (1-1), which was coming off of a season-opening extra-inning win Thursday over the Saugerties Stallions, committed three errors and issued a total of eight walks.

“I think we gave them too much stuff today defensively,” Jammers head coach Anthony Barone said. “On the mound, we had a couple too many walks and just, you know, we just didn’t get the timely hits. That’s a recipe for a loss. It’s one game. We’ll fight back. I know the group of guys we have, they’re confident about themselves so we’ll get back to it at Elmira.”

The Jammers only trailed, 1-0, early in the contest and tied the score in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI single from Connor Rule (Kansas State University).

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Jamestown collected a total of nine hits, including two apiece from Christ Conley (Canisius College) and Chris Estrada (University of Texas at San Antonio), but just couldn’t seem to break through against the stingy Bellardini.

“(Bellardini) mixed it up really well,” Barone emphasized. “He threw a lot of strikes. Had a good curveball. His fastball was located really well and just, you know, command of the zone. … It’s too early to really start looking at too many things. After about five, 10 games, you can start seeing some things that are happening too much. But it’s two games. We’ll just bounce back. … One of these days, we’ll start getting those hits with guys on base.”

Skyler Valentine (University of Texas at San Antonio), Rule, Nick Bernick (Niagara University), Casey Vincent (St. Bonaventure University) and Jimmy Standohar (Mercyhurst University) also came through with hits in defeat for the Jammers.

Kyle Backofen (Louisiana-Monroe) got the nod on the hill for Jamestown and worked 5 1/3 innings and struck out two. Westfield graduate, Nolan Hunt (Canisius College) worked 1 1/3 innings of relief while Connor Ryan (Mercyhurst University), Trevor Simon (Ball State University) and Ryan Boyer (Pitt-Bradford) also saw action out of the bullpen.

A road matchup with the Elmira Pioneers awaits the Jammers today. First pitch is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. at Dunn Field.

Last summer, the Pioneers compiled an overall record of 33-15, which was the top record in the West Division of the PGCBL.

“Elmira, you know, they’re (usually) loaded,” Barone stressed. “At Elmira is always a challenge. So we’re going to have to be ready to play.”

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