Rush, Putney Power Fredonia Past Trojans

Senior Owen Rush hit a first-inning home run and the Hillbillies broke the game open with a five-run third inning en route to a 10-0 shutout of Southwestern in Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 1 action Friday evening at Packard Field.

The offensive outburst made a winner out of Ashton Putney for the third time in three league starts. The junior right-hander went 5 2/3 innings Friday, allowing five hits and walking three while striking out eight. He has yet to allow a run this season.

“Not to be overly critical, but for him this is probably a ‘B’ performance. How nice to be able to say that in a shutout of a very quality team,” Fredonia head coach Tim Cowan said. “He struggled to get his offspeed over early in the count. He put them in fastball counts, and fortunately for him and us, he’s got an excellent fastball.”

Rush’s deep home run to left field with two outs in the first inning gave the Hillbillies (7-1, 5-0) the lead.

Southwestern catcher Peter Conley throws to first base for an out during Friday’s CCAA Division 1 game against Fredonia at Packard Field in Lakewood.
P-J photo by Matt Spielman

“If you watch Owen for any length of time, he’s more than just a power hitter. He obviously has amazing raw power, but he hits to all fields. His spray chart is exceptional. It really just means he doesn’t have any holes in his swing,” Cowan said. ” … When he’s going, he’s certainly the engine that drives our car. … That’s quite an emphatic hit for Owen. It might have only been one run, but it felt like a lot more.”

Fredonia added on in the third inning in a multitude of ways. Junior No. 9 hitter A.J. Kinney opened the frame with an infield single before a walk to Putney. After two failed bunt attempts, freshman Matt Cowan hit an RBI single to center field that turned into a 3-0 lead when the ball was bobbled in the outfield.

“What we’ve preached is just take the pitch right in front of you,” Coach Cowan said of his son’s at-bat. “It’s something to talk about later with the bunts … but instead of pouting about it being down 0-2, he kept his focus and got a big base hit for us.”

Rush then reached on a fielder’s choice when Southwestern attempted to get the lead runner at second base, but was unable to retire anybody. After an error, junior Andrew Cowan hit into an RBI groundout and sophomore Colin Luce reached on the third Trojans error of the inning.

“They’re a good baseball team. You can’t give teams six outs in an inning and expect them not to do damage,” Southwestern head coach Jared Brown said. “In the third inning, we just didn’t make the plays for (starting pitcher) Judd (Harris). … I feel for Judd. He was throwing alright and was throwing groundballs and we just didn’t make plays.”

Fredonia’s Owen Rush steps on home plate after hitting a solo home run during the first inning of Friday’s CCAA Division 1 game against Southwestern at Packard Field in Lakewood.
P-J photo by Matt Spielman

With the bases loaded, junior Brady Helmer hit into a potential inning-ending double play, but instead beat the throw to first for an RBI. Senior Nathan Sercu, running hard from second on the play, didn’t stop at third and scored as the throw home was late.

“I can’t send him on a really short one, unless they’re coming hard. You can’t turn it on late,” Coach Cowan said. “We’ve come into third really hard and in each of the last three games, we’ve been able to grab a quick run.”

Fredonia tacked on three more runs in the fourth inning after three straight walks loaded the bases to open the frame. Putney scored on a wild pitch, Sercu hit an RBI groundout and Luce hit an RBI single to make it 9-0.

The Trojans (8-2, 5-2) left the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth inning and stranded two runners on in the fifth.

“I know we had the bases loaded and we looked at a third strike. … Watching a third strike with the bat on your shoulder finds you a place in the dugout really quick,” Brown said. “It’s definitely discouraging. We talked about having a simple approach because we know how efficient Ashton Putney is.”

Harris was relieved by junior Brody Ellis with two outs in the fourth inning. Ellis proceeded to retire seven straight batters before Fredonia sophomore pinch-hitter Brady Crawford doubled and scored in the top of the seventh inning.

“If we needed Jameson (Walsh) later on in a close, tight game, I probably would’ve used him,” Brown said of his team’s senior right-hander. “With that said, Brody Ellis came in and did a great job in relief.”

Putney reached his pitch limit in the bottom of the sixth inning and junior Luca Gullo got the final four outs for the Hillbillies, pitching around a hit batter in the seventh.

The same teams will meet Monday in Fredonia when Walsh will likely oppose Rush on the mound.

“I was thinking about throwing Jameson today, but I wanted to give him one more day of rest,” Brown said. “Judd’s been on four or five days, so I figured he’d be the one to go today.”