State College Spikes fall to Staten Island in extra innings

Down to their final at-bat, the State College Spikes came back to life Thursday night.

Then Mother Nature decided to add to the drama.

A two-run single by Tommy Edman in the bottom of the ninth tied the game, but the Staten Island Yankees’ Drew Bridges spoiled the party with a 10th-inning home run after a rain delay.

It gave the Yankees a 3-2 win in the New York-Penn League semifinals series at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park in a game played in the rain since the sixth inning.

“We had to come out in the 10th and stop them, we didn’t,” Spikes manager Johnny Rodriguez said. “We have to score, we didn’t. That’s the way it is.”

The outcome forced a third game at 7:05 p.m. Friday in State College.

“There’s nothing for me to say,” Rodriguez said. “There’s nothing for me to cheer them on. I’m not going to be a cheerleader. It’s up to them now.”

The winner will meet the Hudson Valley Renegades in the best-of-three championship series. The Renegades, with former Penn State standout Jim Haley going 0 for 3 with an RBI batting cleanup, beat the Lowell Spinners 5-3 Thursday to sweep that series 2-0.

Edman was 3 for 5, and Danny Hudzina was 2 for 3 to pace the seven-hit attack.

Shut down for eight innings, State College finally broke through in the ninth. Hudzina led off with a single and pinch hitter Yariel Gonzalez drew a walk. Pinch hitter Ryan McCarvel then lofted a fly ball to deep center, allowing both runners to tag up.

The Spikes manager said it was Gonzalez’s decision to tag up from first base.

“Know the outfielder’s arm strength, take the chance,” Rodriguez said. “The field was not playable. Seventh, eighth inning that field was not playable. That was the right call.”

Edman then ripped a hot grounder up the middle to bring both runners home.

“Finally one found a hole,” Rodriguez said. “We hit the ball hard with runners in scoring position and (they) didn’t fall.”

The Spikes had been 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position and had left nine runners on base before Edman came through in the clutch.

The rain didn’t pick up that much, but at that point the umpires decided to call for the tarp to cover the field.

“I’d rather we’d have kept on playing in that situation, because we’ve got momentum,” Rodriguez said. “The umpires decided to stop the game. I would have waited. It’s not my call.”

Asked for his thoughts, and his players’ opinions, on the decision to halt play then, Rodriguez only gave a “no comment.”

After the delay, Bridges deposited the first pitch of the 10th inning over the fence in right field.

The Spikes loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the frame, but Gonzalez bounced into a double play to end the night.

The Yankees took an early lead with Dom Thompson-Williams leading off the game with a single, taking second when the ball was mishandled in left field and later scoring on a Timmy Robinson groundout.

They added another run in the sixth on a bases-loaded walk to Ben Ruta, the final batter to face Spikes starter Jordan Hicks, who was in line for the loss until Edman’s heroics.

On the hill

Spikes: Hicks, often referenced by Rodriguez as his team’s No. 1 starter, struggled on the mound Thursday. He slogged through 5 2/3 innings, giving up four hits and six walks. He allowed two four-pitch walks in the first two innings, and only 40 of his 85 pitches were for strikes.

“He just didn’t have his command, his composure,” Rodriguez said. “He battled his way through it and gave us a chance.”

Reliever Brady Bowen (0-1) pitched the 10th, gave up the homer in the four batters he faced and took the loss.

Yankees: Starter Freicer Perez also struggled to find the plate, giving up four walks and three hits, but he didn’t allow a run over his five innings.

David Sosebee pitched three strong innings of relief, giving up a single and walk but not letting anyone past first base. Josh Roeder (1-0) pitched the ninth and gave up the two runs to blow the save, then ended up getting the win. Trevor Lane picked up his first save.

Odds and ends

Playing in pain: McCarvel, the team’s home run leader and co-RBI leader, has an injured thumb. Rodriguez said McCarvel will return to the lineup as a designated hitter Friday.

Not-so-full house: The game drew 1,458, but only a few dozen were actually in the seats for the 10th inning, and a few dozen more were standing under cover.

On deck

With the winner-take-all Game 3, the Spikes will send right-handed pitcher Carson Cross (5-6, 3.24 ERA) to the mound against Yankees righty Simon De La Rosa (6-4, 3.38).

“(Cross has) been here two years,” Rodriguez said. “It’s ironic he’d be the one to get us to the championship. Been here two years, he’s paid his dues.”

This story was originally published September 8, 2016 at 11:47 PM with the headline "State College Spikes fall to Staten Island in extra innings."