Spikes prepared for start of NYPL playoffs

State College Spikes manager Johnny Rodriguez, an avid Indianapolis Colts fan, remembers 2005 all too well.

Sitting at 14-1 with the AFC South division championship, home-field advantage throughout the playoffs and the AFC’s No. 1 seed locked up, Colts coach Tony Dungy benched Peyton Manning and the rest of Indianapolis’ key starters for Week 17 to avoid injury.

But they lost their mojo.

“They never built momentum,” Rodriguez recalled. “Pittsburgh ambushed them.”

The Colts fell to the Steelers in the first round of the playoffs, and Rodriguez will never forget it.

That’s why he played his normal starters on Sunday and Monday in advance of the Spikes’ playoff series with Staten Island, which begins 7 p.m. Wednesday on the road.

The manager didn’t want to lose the flow of winning.

“I think that’s important,” Rodriguez said.

And that could prove to be the case.

State College (50-26) has won four of its past five, including the pair of most recent games in which Rodriguez refused to bench his regulars.

In those two games, the Spikes won with what’s got them this far — timely hitting and stellar pitching.

At the plate, State College has been effective, but not overpowering. The Spikes rank third in total bases and fourth in batting average and on-base percentage in the New York-Penn League.

State College leadoff man Tommy Edman said what’s worked for the team is an acute understanding of everyone’s role in the batting order.

Edman, the NYPL leader in runs (61) and walks (48), starts things off, and the guys behind him do the rest.

“Obviously you have your ups and downs, but for the most part we’ve been pretty consistent,” the middle infielder said. “You have a general idea of what to expect, knowing what your offense has to do to be successful.”

To conquer Staten Island in a three-game series, the Spikes will need their pitching to be on point, as well.

Rodriguez said Bryan Dobzanski (4-6, 3.93 ERA) will start Wednesday against the Yankees, while Jordan Hicks (6-2, 2.97 ERA) is scheduled to go when Game 2 comes to Medlar Field at Lubrano Park on Thursday.

If State College has a third game — whether it’s the deciding game of the Staten Island series, or the first game of the NYPL championships — Steven Farinaro (9-1, 3.46 ERA) will be on the bump.

As for Wednesday, Dobzanski faced Staten Island earlier this summer. On Aug. 13, the 21-year-old right-hander limited the Yankees to six hits and one run in 4 2/3 innings of relief work.

Starting a playoff game will be a little different than taking the hill for an extended regular season relief appearance, but Rodriguez is confident in Dobzanski.

For that matter, the manager trusts all his players.

Rodriguez thought earlier in the season that his players were “grinders” — they didn’t have the most pop at the plate, and they weren’t the hardest throwing hurlers.

But Rodriguez saw something in them.

“There’s a lot of slow-heartbeat guys on this team,” the manager said. “I felt that we had a shot to be special.”

So far, the regular season has been a memorable one for the Spikes.

Now, they have an opportunity to extend that even further.

This story was originally published September 6, 2016 at 11:28 PM with the headline "Spikes prepared for start of NYPL playoffs."