Skunks suffer first loss
Olean starter and Salamanca native Jaxson Ross delivers to the plate during Tuesday’s Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League game against Jamestown at Diethrick Park. P-J photo by Scott Kindberg
Olean scored three times in both the fourth and fifth innings Tuesday night to build a comfortable lead en route to a 11-1 eight-inning victory over Jamestown in a Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League game at Diethrick Park.
Trailing 1-0 through three complete, the Oilers, who had lost two previous meetings against the Tarp Skunks (2-1), plated three runs in the fourth inning against Cohen Harris, who came on in relief of starter Jack Castillo, highlighted by RBI singles by Anthony Radice and Darek Staudt and a hit batter. In the fifth, Jamestown’s third pitcher, Rocco Almonte, surrendered three runs, courtesy of a sacrifice fly by Connor Vercollone, an RBI double by Radice and a single by Thomas Bates.
Armed with a 6-1 lead, Olean rode the effective pitching of starter and Salamanca native Jaxson Ross, and relievers Bryson Huwar and Dunkirk native Anthony Cosme to raise its record to 2-2. Ross worked the first 3 1-3 innings and gave up one run and two hits. He struck out three and walked five. Huwar came on in relief and promptly hit the first batter he faced to load the bases with one out, but he got Tito Kiefer to ground into a 1-2-3 double play to end the threat. Cosme pitched the last two innings, gave up one hit, struck out two and walked one.
The Tarp Skunks’ only run came in the third inning when Grant Moore singled to right to score Matthew Dumas.
The Oilers closed out the scoring with four runs in the sixth and one in the seventh. Jamestown, which used six pitchers in all, was limited to three hits. Olean, meanwhile, collected eight hits, including three by Radice, who also drove in four runs. Vercollone and Bates both added two RBIs.
The Tarp Skunks will begin a four-game road trip tonight when they travel to Batavia. That will be followed by games at Newark on Thursday, and at Niagara Falls on Friday and Saturday. Jamestown’s next home game will be at 11 a.m. next Tuesday against Olean.





