Jamestown’s pitchers were better Tuesday, but free bases still came back to bite the Tarp Skunks late in their Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League West Division game.

A walk and a hit batter preceded Ethan Madison’s go-ahead three-run home run in the top of the seventh inning as Niagara Falls beat Jamestown 7-4 in front of more than 2,500 local school children on Kids Day at Diethrick Park.

“It’s really cool the support we have from the community. … That’s a great atmosphere, not only for our players, but it’s a good representation of the league,” Jamestown head coach Frank Jagoda Jr. said postgame. “We want to come out and play a little bit better each and every time out. We’re confident in this group here in this clubhouse. We’re going to keep working.”

The Tarp Skunks (3-2) outhit the Americans (4-0) 12-3, but after walking just one batter and hitting another through the opening six innings, they walked three and hit two more over the final three innings.

Jamestown second baseman Brady McGuire tags out Niagara Falls’ Ian Huang attempting to steal during the first inning of Tuesday’s PGCBL game at Diethrick Park in Jamestown. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

“It’s hard to win baseball games when you give up free passes,” Jagoda said postgame. “It’s hard to win baseball games when you don’t catch and throw the baseball. It’s hard to win baseball games when you don’t hit with runners in scoring position.”

Niagara Falls’ Grant Moore doubled to lead off the game against Jamestown newcomer Hunter Bell. After Bell hit Ian Huang, a double-steal attempt left Moore at third and Huang thrown out at second. Nick Paszt then hit a sacrifice fly to give the Americans an early 1-0 lead.

But Bell, a left-hander from Stonehill College, settled in to retire the final seven batters he faced and leave with a 3-1 lead after three innings.

“Hunter was great. He set the tone early. … He kind of set it up for us,” Jagoda said. “Our bullpen was in a good place. We felt really good with where we were and how we were set up. We just didn’t get it done today.”

Jamestown gave Bell the lead in the bottom of the second inning. Brady Marshall (Kent State University) and Dom Costello (Gannon University) led off with back-to-back singles before a fielder’s choice left runners at first and second. After a strikeout, Matthew Dumas (Erskine College) walked to load the bases and Brady McGuire (Seton Hill University) hit an RBI single to tie the game.

Nolan Smith (SUNY Cortland) then hit a two-run single to give the Tarp Skunks a 3-1 lead before Dumas was thrown out attempting to make it to third on the play.

“We preach aggressiveness. I’ll never get on guys for being aggressive. It’s just about having a high level of baseball IQ, knowing the spot, knowing where you are in the order, knowing the game flow and where we’re at,” Jagoda said. “They know it. … We need to be smarter in certain spots.”

Jamestown’s second pitcher in the game, Daniel Thomas (Mercyhurst University), tossed a pair of scoreless innings, allowing his only base runner on an error.

Christian Pencek (Lincoln Memorial University) then allowed a run in his inning of work, but got out of the top of the sixth inning with a one-run lead after picking off Moore between second and third.

“I think it’s pretty evident that when we throw strikes, we’re going to be a pretty darned good ballclub, plain and simple,” Jagoda said. “We need to fill up the zone and challenge hitters at all times. Some of that is sequencing, some of that is pitch selection in certain spots. … When we throw strikes, we’re tough.”

Landon Castor (High Point University) let the lead slip away in the top of the seventh inning. After walking Paszt and hitting Christopher Guzaldo, Niagara Falls sacrificed its runners to second and third. Madison then hit a three-run home run to left-center field to give the Americans a 5-3 lead before Castor got out of the inning with a groundout and a strikeout.

Nick Ianniello (SUNY Brockport), who got four outs and allowed a pair of unearned runs in Sunday’s loss, allowed two runs in the top of the eighth on three walks and a hit batter to give Niagara Falls a 7-3 lead.

“We have a lot of confidence in Nick. He didn’t have his best stuff today. I don’t think that has anything to do with him throwing on Sunday. His pitch count was really low and he’s been one of our better arms,” Jagoda said. “We like him in that leverage spot throwing strikes. … He’s going to get it done next time out.”

Jamestown’s final run came in the bottom of the eighth inning as Nathan Borchardt (King University) walked with one out, Marshall singled and Costello hit an RBI double down the right-field line.

Marshall and Costello were stranded after Hudson Boring relieved, got a weak lineout to shortstop for the second out and then got a grounder to get out of the inning. Those were the final two of the Tarp Skunks’ 11 runners left on base in the game.

“We put together quality at-bats, we hit balls hard. … We need that timely hit. We need that want-to in the batter’s box … that willingness to grind and scratch and claw with runners on third base and less than two outs,” Jagoda said. “We had at least three off the top of my head where we had a runner on third with less than two (outs) and didn’t score a run.”

Jamestown is home again tonight at 6:30 when it welcomes the Buffalo Diesel for an exhibition matchup.