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Tarp Skunks beat Geneva in regular-season finale

By Matt Spielman 4 min read

Finishing up a stretch of five games over 11 days and having lost four straight, the Jamestown Tarp Skunks were just looking to get back on track in their final regular-season game Saturday night.

While it took a few innings, Tait Johnson and Grant Moore made sure they did.

Johnson tossed eight innings of two-run ball and Moore went 2 for 5 with a double and three stolen bases as Jamestown beat a shorthanded Geneva Red Wings team 6-2 in Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League action at Diethrick Park.

"It's been kind of hard for the guys to be locked the whole time with a lot of days off," Jamestown manager Joe Reitebach said. "We knew we were locked into a home playoff game and we wanted to carry some momentum into the playoffs."

Next up for the Tarp Skunks is a West Division semifinal date with the third-seeded Auburn Doubledays at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Diethrick Park. The top-seeded Batavia Muckdogs will host the fourth-seeded Elmira Pioneers in Monday's other semifinal.

"We have a couple of options, but we're not totally sure yet," Reitebach said of his Game 1 starting pitcher. "We would like to put away arms for the rest of the week and we expect to be playing later in the week, but you have to win the game at hand, so all hands on deck for Game 1."

Geneva took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning Saturday as Ellicottville graduate Lucas Marsh hit an RBI groundout to score Kenta Minakata.

Jamestown had just two hits through four innings off Red Wings starter Austin Deitz, but broke through in the fifth inning with three runs on two hits, three hit batters and a walk.

Heath Fetchik led off with a walk before stealing second and third. Then, with one out, Caleb Jordan was hit by a pitch and stole second. Moore followed with a two-run single to give the Tarp Skunks the lead.

"Grant is a fantastic player and an even better human being. We knew from the second he stepped in here that he was going to be our leader in the locker room," Reitebach said. "It's just easy to pencil him in there in that leadoff spot and in center field."

Moore then stole third before Nolan Smith was hit by a pitch and Paul Dulano hit an RBI single to make it 3-1.

"It was definitely a positive sign. I think we showed good patience in the box," Reitebach said of the offense breaking through. "Their guy was doing a good job early of getting in the zone with three pitches. We kind of worked his count up to get him out of there and get to some other arms."

Joaquin Rodriguez-Costa was hit by a pitch to open the sixth inning, advanced to second on a walk and scored on Moore's RBI double to left field.

Geneva scored an unearned run on a two-out error in the top of the eighth inning, but Jamestown answered with two runs of its own in the bottom of the frame. CJ Dugan led off with a single, Rodriguez-Costa walked and Fetchik was hit by a pitch before Jackson Enders drew a bases-loaded walk and Caleb Jordan hit an RBI groundout.

Johnson threw 66 of his 101 pitches for strikes, allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits and two walks while striking out two.

"Tait did an unbelievable job. It was his best outing of the summer. He gave up a run in the third and kind of locked in from there," Reitebach said. "He had all of his pitches working. He kind of dialed it down and cut off the freebies after a while. We knew we were in a good spot."

Eli Bryant got the final three outs for the Tarp Skunks, striking out one batter.

The winners of Monday's semifinals will play for the West Division title Tuesday at the home of the higher seed. The West Division champion will then take on the East Division champion in a best-of-three PGCBL Championship Series starting Wednesday.

Starting at /week.