BEAVER FALLS, PA – Chatham Baseball (11-13, 3-5 PAC) came back in the ninth inning of game two to earn a split of their doubleheader against Geneva (10-10, 1-7) on Wednesday, dropping game one 10-2 and taking game two 7-6.
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The Cougars took a 1-0 lead in the first inning of game one on
Peter Tadic's base hit that brought home
Angelo DeLeonardis. Then after the Golden Tornadoes responded with 3 runs in the bottom of the first,
Devin Fluhmann cut Chatham's deficit to 3-2 when his groundout scored
Tyler Cote. Geneva would score 3 more runs before a two-and-a-half-hour rain delay halted play in the bottom of the sixth. The Cougars could not generate any offense after the delay, and the Golden Tornadoes claimed an 8-run victory after tacking on 3 additional runs in the seventh and 1 in the eighth.
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Ty Blackburn went 2-3 at the plate and
Eddie Rueda was 2-4.
Ethan Botkin threw a scoreless third inning for Chatham and did not allow a hit in game one.
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The Cougars again scored first in game two when their offense struck for 4 runs in the third inning. Rueda's double plated Fluhmann and
Nick Merola, then
Nolan Boehm's base hit brought in Rueda and DeLeonardis to put Chatham ahead 4-0. Geneva erased the Cougars' advantage by putting 5 runs on the board in the fifth, but the Chatham offense was not done. Boehm scored on a Blackburn groundout to tie the score in the sixth. The Golden Tornadoes then scored a run in the eighth and threatened to sweep the twin bill. In the top of the ninth, Boehm drove in his third run of the game on a sacrifice fly. In a 6-6 game,
Kayden Leck put the ball in play, reaching on an error with two outs in the ninth to score DeLeonardis. Cote pitched a scoreless ninth to give the Cougars the win.
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Eddie Rueda finished game two 2-4 with 2 RBIs and scored a run.
Nolan Boehm was 1-2 with 2 walks, 3 RBIs and a run scored. At the top of the lineup, Fluhmann and DeLeonardis both went 1-3 with 2 walks and 2 runs scored.
Tyler Cote earned the win on the mound by holding Geneva to 1 run on 2 hits with 3 strikeouts in the final 4 innings of game two.
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Chatham will return home on Saturday to take on Saint Vincent at 4 p.m. for a doubleheader.
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