By PAUL GOTHAM
Prep Baseball Report New York Contributor 

DII Sova 5 DII DiStaffen 4
Robby Merkov (Webster Schroeder) highlighted a two-out rally with an RBI triple to straight center, and DII Sova erased an early deficit to pick up its second win of the season in Upstate Baseball League action at Towers Field on the campus of the University of Rochester, Tuesday night.  Merkov plated Tristan Murray with the second of a three-run second inning. Trailing 3-0, Grant Rodriguez (Rush-Henrietta) started the comeback with a two-out single through the left side of the infield. After a stolen base, Murray walked and Rodriguez came home on a wild pitch. Chris Sleeper (Rush-Henrietta) knotted the game with a run-scoring single to center.  Steve Merkel (Greece Athena) and Morgen Major (Mynderse) connected on back-to-back singles to start the third and eventually scored as DII Sova took a lead they did not surrender. Dan Stapleton (Penfield) hurled two perfect innings in relief for the save. The right-hander struck out three and needed 18 pitches (15 for strikes) to close out the victory. Murray started and threw three innings for the win. DII DiStaffen’s Caleb Richardson (Greece Athena) finished 2-for-2 on the night including a one-out triple in the first followed by an RBI single from Drew Treviso (Fairport) for the early edge. Caden Hann (Webster Thomas) took advantage of a pair of errors, and Ben Sousa (Honeoye Falls-Lima) knocked a solo shot for a 3-0 advantage after two innings. Armani Malinka (Greece Arcadia) tossed two scoreless innings in relief, and DJ White (Rush-Henrietta) added a scoreless seventh. Merkov made a spectacular diving catch in the fifth inning on a sinking line drive off the bat of Tyler Cerame (Hilton). 

DII Blatter 3 DII Maynard 2
Gage Ziehl (Penfield) broke up a no hitter with a leadoff single in the fifth, and DII Blatter went on to score all three of its runs in the frame en route to the sixth win of the season. Trailing 2-0, Ziehl beat out an infield single and advanced on a throwing error on the play. Lucas Sulimowicz (Greece Athena) singled to left field, and Troy Liebert (Brockport) brought home the first run with an RBI fielder’s choice. Josh Ferris (Churchville-Chili) reached on a hit by pitch before Dan Tirabassi (Rush-Henrietta) and Adam Brawn (Rush-Henrietta) worked back-to-back walks. The eventual winning run scored on a wild pitch. Owen Lyons (Geneseo) allowed one run on two hits and struck out three over two innings of work in relief for the win. Joey Alphonse (Greece Olympia) fanned four over two scoreless for the save. Vinnie Micalizzi (Penfield) started and allowed one run on three hits over three full. He set down four on strikes. Patrick Xander (McQuaid) spotted DII Maynard a lead with an RBI single in the second. Noah Horn (Greece Athena) rapped a two-out single and eventually scored on a balk to give DII Maynard a 2-0 advantage in the top of the fifth. The loss overshadowed an impressive outing on the hill from Michael Contini (Rush-Henrietta). The southpaw started and tossed three no-hit innings. He retired five on punch outs and faced just one over the limit throwing 38 pitches – 29 for strikes. Contini retired the last six he faced and allowed two balls out of the infield. 

Major Resiliency – In his first appearance on the hill this season on August 5th, Morgen Major (Mynderse) allowed four runs on four hits over two innings of work. When the right-hander got out of the fourth inning Tuesday surrendering just one tally, it was an accomplishment. Major, though, showed his mettle in the fifth. After retiring the first batter of the frame, he allowed a single and a walk. He went 3-0 on the next batter, and the leash from the dugout was getting shortened. That is until Major responded with two strikes at the knees before getting a ground ball and a can of corn into left field from the next batter for the scoreless stanza. He left the mound with the lead intact.