AURORA, N.Y. – La Roche baseball traveled to Wells for an AMCC doubleheader on Saturday afternoon, where in game one, the Redhawks got quality pitching that led to a 6-1 victory, but in game two, the Express put together a six-run sixth inning to take down the red and black, 8-6.
GAME ONE: La Roche 6 Wells 1
Three scoreless innings opened game one, but La Roche would come through in the top of the fourth, scoring four to take the lead.
Ricky Heyz opened the scoring with an RBI single to score Christian Melendez, then back-to-back Wells errors allowed Dom Brncic, Heyz and Tanner Schmitt all to score to make it a 4-0 lead.
The lone Express run scored in the bottom of the fifth, courtesy of an RBI double.
The Redhawks added insurance in the top of the seventh, as Casey Jones's sacrifice fly brought in Dimitri Gary to make it 5-1, followed by Cameron Mauk scoring on yet another Wells error.
Larry Bielawski threw yet another quality game for La Roche, as he allowed just one unearned run, four hits and struck out nine in the complete game effort.
Offensively, the Redhawks had six hits in the game with six different batters in the order collecting a single hit.
GAME TWO: Wells 8 La Roche 6
Game two was going La Roche's way again early, as they were up 2-0 going into the bottom of the fourth.
Damon Foster drove in Gary with a sacrifice fly to open the scoring in the top of the second, then in the top of the fourth Melendez brought in Gary yet again.
The Express would then tie the game in the bottom of the fourth behind a solo home run and a sacrifice fly.
The Redhawks regained the lead in the top of the sixth, 5-2, as Schmitt drove in Brncic with an RBI single, followed by Snyder who drew a bases loaded walk. A wild pitch crossed Schmitt to close the scoring for the half inning.
Wells finally got the offense going in the bottom of the sixth, scoring six runs behind a two-run homer, a pair of RBI singles, a sacrifice fly and a La Roche error to make it 8-5 in favor of the Express.
La Roche would add one final run in the top of the eight as Josh Dreyer scored on a Wells error, then in the top of the ninth, the Redhawks had a chance, loading the bases with two outs, but couldn't bring in a run.
Jones started game two for the red and black, and across five innings allowed four runs (three earned), 10 hits, walked three and struck out three.
Samuel DiCicco tossed 0.2 inning of relief, allowing four unearned runs, two hits, one walk and one strikeout, while Reed Bursic closed the game with 2.2 innings pitched, surrendering four hits, two walks and struck out one himself.
Offensively, the Redhawks had 11 hits, as Gary, Brncic and Heyz all went 2-for-4, and Schmitt also added a pair of hits at 2-for-5.
La Roche closes the regular season this coming week with five home games, beginning with a non-conference doubleheader on Tuesday, Apr. 23 against Franciscan. First pitch of game one is set for 2 p.m.