WATERTOWN — The Watertown Rapids lost their regular-season finale on Wednesday, yet after a recording a win the previous night, there’s a silver lining to their season.
The Rapids were dealt an ugly 14-3 setback by the Rochester Ridgemen in a New York Collegiate Baseball League game before a crowd of 612 at the Alex T. Duffy Fairgrounds.
But with its win over first-place Syracuse on Tuesday, Watertown clinched a playoff berth as well as the No. 3 seed in the East Division playoffs.
“It’s pretty cool, it’s my first time being here,” Rapids’ catcher Ben Hess said. “I look forward to being in the playoffs.”
The Rapids, who finished the regular season at 14-25-1, will play at second-seeded Sherrill in a division wild-card game at 5 p.m. on Friday.
“The outcome was not what we wanted tonight, but you just take it as it is and for what it’s worth, and look forward to Friday.” Watertown coach Ben Julien said. “So we just look forward to Friday and hopefully come back on Saturday, that’s the goal.”
“I’m really looking forward to it,” Rapids’ infielder Giuseppe Sapiezna said. “It’s nice to be able to extend the season with the guys, I love that we get the chance to play in front of all these fans and playing with these guys, it’s definitely been a nice experience so far.”
After two scoreless innings on Wednesday night during which Joey Hagen tossed two clean frames, allowing just one base runner and struck out one, things quickly went awry for Watertown.
Rochester (13-27) scored three runs in both of the third and fourth innings and then generated six more in the fifth to break the game open with a 12-3 lead.
Jack Cannon led the charge by tripling two runs in the third and Tim Martin connected on a two-run home run in the fourth.
In the fifth, Carer Hennon doubled in a run and Luke Lawson followed with an RBI single for the Ridgemen, who took advantage of an infield error to score two more runs, and added a run on a bases-loaded walk and an RBI flyout.
“It happens, it’s part of baseball,” Sapienza said. “But we’ve got bigger games coming in the playoffs, so we’ll just put our focus on that.”
In a bullpen game, Henry Hubner, who came on in the third, was tagged with the loss in two innings of work, while Jarrett Jordan, Anthony Valenti and Ozzie Weber each pitched one inning.
The Rapids totaled five hits and plated two unearned runs in the fourth inning and Rekuto Shirakata tripled and scored on a passed ball in the fifth.
Along with a bulk-style pitching approach, several players played out of position, with catcher Ben Hess moving to third base, and second baseman Josh Gardner and shortstop Damon Asencio switching positions for the game.
“As far as the outcome of today, it was good, we got some pitchers in that really carried the load for us most of the year, they also got some at-bats, so we had a little fun with that, too,” Julien said.
Watertown defeated visiting Syracuse, 6-3 on Tuesday night, with starter Noah Flanagan pitching five innings to record the win and later Talfourd Wynne, an Indian River graduate, pitched three scoreless innings, striking out three to record his first save at this level.
“It’s a relief,” Julien said of Tuesday’s win. “And it’s something we obviously work all summer for, because once you’re in the playoffs, anything can happen. So obviously we wish we did it a little better here and there and a game or two here could of probably helped us, but it’s ultimately about what’s in front of us. And I think our guys are, today notwithstanding, I think we’re primed and ready to go.”
“That was a really fun ball game to play,” said Sapiezna, who is from Michigan. “Especially, we’ve had some very close games with Syracuse and with them being one of the top teams in the league, so it was a fun game, for sure.”
If Watertown defeats Sherrill on Friday it would host division winner and top-seeded Syracuse in the first round of the division championship series.
But first, the Rapids are focusing on Sherrill, which plays at cozy Noyes Park, in the wild-card game.
“They’re a good team,” Julien said of Sherrill. “I mean playing in their park is always difficult because they’re used to it, it’s a small park. They have their approach down and they tend to have a big inning here and there that really helped propel them. So we’ve got to keep them from having a big inning and we’ve got to go out and have our own.”
Ozzie Weber, who pitched the last inning of Wednesday’s game, will get the start for Watertown on Friday, Julien said.
“I think we’re in a good spot with our pitching rotation and I think that we’re going to battle because there’s chance for us to get back here on Saturday and play for the East (Division) championship.”
Offensively, Myles finished the regular-season as the league’s batting champion in average (.410) and Sapienza slugged four home runs, finishing in a tie for seventh place in the circuit, while batting .336. Both also drove in a team-high 22 runs.
“We’ve got a couple league-leading hitters in Xavier and Giuseppe and I think (Josh) Gardner’s really been swinging the bat well, he’s coming around and Robbie Carvelli gotten really hot,” Julien said. “So I think ultimately we have a lineup that’s going to be productive for us, we’ve had some good team at-bats in the last few games, the outcomes haven’t been what we wanted, we lost a game here and there, but we’ve had a really good team approach, so that’s what is going to win you those big games.”
“I think we’ve been pretty solid,” Hess said. “I think in the second half we definitely made a turn for the better. I think we’re getting in a groove and I think we’ll be able to carry that into the playoffs.”
Julien holds the distinction of guiding his past five teams to the playoffs, three with Auburn and one with Jamestown, both in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, and his latest with Watertown.
“We haven’t done anything yet,” Julien said. “Getting in is the first battle, but we want to win the war. We’ve got to play well Friday and then bring it back here and hopefully keep competing. And I think we have the team that can do it, but we’ve got to show up and play good baseball.”
“I think we’ve got a great opportunity, there’s so much talent on this team,” Sapienza said. “We definitely have the potential to smash the ball around the park and we have many great pitchers on our staff. So I think if we lock it in, we’ll for sure make a run for that ring.”
The Rapids have also made the playoffs for the second straight year as they made the postseason in the PGCBL before moving to the NYCBL in the postseason.
“It’s pretty cool,” added Hess, who hails from Cincinnati. “It’s definitely a unique summer-ball experience, my first time playing in this bigger league and this long of a season. Getting to play with these guys is pretty fun.”