Collegiate baseball: Rapids close regular season with comeback win, finish at 21-24

Jul. 30—WATERTOWN — Displaying a flair for the dramatic once again, the Watertown Rapids made their final game of the season an eventful one Friday night.

Trailing by five runs in the late innings, the Rapids came storming back to edge the Geneva Red Wings, 10-9, in walk-off fashion in a Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League game before a crowd of 434 at Toyota Field at the Alex T. Duffy Fairgrounds.

Mason Diaz doubled in the tying run in the bottom of the ninth inning and then pinch runner Hunter Ryan scored the winning run when Clay Grady reached on an infield error to finish off the comeback win for the Rapids.

Watertown overcame a 9-4 deficit by scoring two runs in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings.

"This was really electric, that's all I can say," Rapids center fielder Anthony Manisero said. "It was electric, honestly. That's how we've been, the last half of the year we've had like five walk-off wins and it seems like we're always coming from behind in every game we have. That's just the type of team we are."

Manisero and catcher Elvis Lopez each homered for the Rapids, who finish their season at 21-24.

"It was a great way to end our last regular-season game for sure, it was unbelievable," Lopez said. "And I had a feeling we were going to come back, but it amazing to see it play out."

The victory reflected on the comeback character of Watertown, which battled back after struggling during the first month of the season to nearly make the postseason in the East Division.

"It was a great way to end our season," Watertown coach Mike Kogut said. "The story of these guys will be they never gave up and always fought — down to the last inning of the last game. I think that's like our third walk-off (win) at home in the last two weeks, so it's exciting."

Brandon Gelpi homered twice and knocked in four runs for Geneva (21-21), which also didn't qualify for the playoffs, finishing fifth in the West Division.

Down by five runs, Watertown chipped away at the deficit in the bottom of the seventh. After Lopez hit a leadoff single, Tyree Bradley walked and Owen Parliament singled to load the bases, Colin Hageman singled to right field to drive in a run and Eli Meredith hit a line-drive flyout to center field to pull his team within 9-6.

In the eighth, Grady doubled down the left-field line with one out, stole third base and scored when the Geneva catcher threw the ball into left field.

With two outs, Lopez then connected on a 3-1 pitch by sending shot over the left-field wall to draw the Rapids within 9-8.

In the bottom of the ninth, Hageman drew a lead-off walk and one out later Brett Myers reached on a fielder's choice. With two outs, designated hitter Mason Diaz smoked a double off the top of the left-field wall to drive in Myers and tie the game at 9-9.

After pinch hitter Connor Maxwell was hit by a pitch, Grady hit a ground ball to third that third baseman Ray Ortiz fielded cleanly, but the ball bounced off Mike Gorham's glove at first base, allowing Ryan to race home for the winning run.

"We thought he hit a home run, maybe right off the wall and Myers still hustled it out and beat the throw in," Kogut said. "And then we drew a hit-by-pitch and a walk-off chopper there that they had a tough play to make and pulled out another victory."

Sean Crowley pitched 3 1/3 innings of shutout ball, allowing two hits while striking out two, to record the win in relief.

"It was pretty wild," said Myers, a Lowville graduate who attends SUNY Oswego, said of the win. "It was really fun, this is a great group of guys, it's a lot different from last year when we weren't as successful. But coming into this year we were struggling, but we really turned it around. This was a pretty good experience."

Watertown starter Wyatt Parliament allowed four runs (one earned) on three hits in three innings. Derrike Goutremout then gave up five runs on seven hits in 2 2/3 innings before he was relieved by Crowley.

The Rapids showed plenty of fight Friday.

"This game was a perfect representation of our season," Lopez said. "Because we were starting off a little slow, getting everything together and then we finally came back towards the end and that's what happened in this game. We had a little hiccups early in the game and we came back and showed our true colors in the end."

After winning only six games in June, Watertown went 15-7 in July, rallying its way back into the playoff race.

The Rapids were still in contention for the last playoff spot in the East Division all the way until Thursday, when Oneonta clinched the last postseason berth.

Earlier on Friday, Geneva led 4-0 in the second inning on RBI singles from Cole Fleming and Harrison Treble and a two-run single from Ozzie Fleischer.

The Rapids responded to pull within a run with three runs in the third as Manisero cranked a two-run home run over the left-field wall and Myers followed with a two-out RBI single to left.

After Geneva led 6-3 in the fifth on a solo home run from Brandon Gelpi and an RBI single by Nick Serce, Watertown drew within 6-4 in the bottom of the inning as Manisero singled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Owen Parliament.

The Red Wings struck for three runs in the sixth as Gelpi belted a three-run homer, again over the left-field wall, for a 9-4 advantage.

Hageman went 3-for-4 and drove in a run for Watertown while Grady, Manisero, Lopez and Diaz contributed two hits each as the Rapids totaled 15 hits.

This was the first summer of coaching college baseball for Kogut, who coached Beaver River at the high school level in the spring.

"I can't say enough of these kids never giving up," Kogut said. "It was 9-4 in the later innings and we just kept piecing it together and piecing it together right down to our final out."

Watertown also wrapped up its season by winning six of its last nine games, including three wins in five games this week.

"We were in it right until the last minute, we were getting Boonville's field ready for them so we didn't get eliminated by rain," Kogut said. "And right before first pitch (Thursday) we saw the walk-off (win) by Oneonta, so we knew before the game we were eliminated. But the boys decided we were going to give it two more good shots and we lost by one (Thursday) and won by one tonight."

—NOTES: Bradley (Bloomfield College) finished the season as the league leader in RBIs (47), second in homers (nine) and fourth in batting average (.389). ... Goutremout, a Lyme graduate, led the Rapids on the mound, posting a 4-0 record in nine games, including three starts. LaFargeville's Wyatt Parliament, who is attending Rutgers, Spencer Brown and Josh Ruiz each won three games for the Rapids.