Dornes and Koontz Lead Webster

Eights are wild at Basket Road Field. 

For the third consecutive game Dave Brust’s Webster Yankees saved their best until the eighth inning. 

Geoff Dornes (R.I.T.) tossed seven innings and Nate Koontz (Ball State) capped a four-run eighth as Webster came from behind to defeat the Alfred Oilers 4-2 in New York Collegiate Baseball League action. 

Koontz drilled a hanging slider to the base of the wall in straight away center plating Rhett Goodmiller (Central Michigan) with the tying and Matt Jacobs (UMass-Lowell) with the go ahead run in the three-run eighth. The double was the second big hit of the week for the Indianapolis, Indiana native. In Tuesday’s season-opener, Koontz’s triple added insurance as the pinstripes downed Elmira by the same score, 4-2. 

“It feels pretty good right now,” said Koontz. “I’m seeing the ball pretty well.” 

Dornes turned in an efficient performance for the home nine. Over seven complete the Landisville, Pa. native struck out and walked two. 

“I really didn’t have my curve working early,” commented Dornes. “”I tried filling it up with my fast ball and worked on not walking many.” 

The two-time Empire 8 player of the year showed his versatility at the plate driving in Koontz with a two-out single in the eighth. Dornes scored Webster’s first run in the fifth. The left-handed batter led the stanza with a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. One out later Mike Walraven (Hofstra) beat out an infield single. Dornes scored when the throw from third went down the right field line. 

Of Webster’s 17 runs scored this year, 13 have come during the eighth inning. 

Tyler Scott (Toledo) worked two frames for his first win of the season. 

“He throws a heavy fast ball,” commented Brust. 

Scott struck out two and walked two. 

Alfred scored a run each in the fifth and eighth. Nathan Papadeas (Texas-Tyler) staked the Oilers to a lead when he drove in Scott Haddock (Southern Tech) with a sacrifice fly to left field. 

With the win, Webster improves to 4-0 on the season. 

“Nothing is as good or as bad as you think it is,” noted Brust. “We gotta stay consistent and play every game like it was our first or our last.” 

The Yankees play a home-and-home with the Elmira Pioneers this weekend. Webster travels to Elmira Saturday before returning home for 1 p.m. first pitch Sunday. 

Pickin' Splinters