NELLIS THROWS SECOND
PERFECT GAME FOR
GENERALS IN 23RD
CONSECUTIVE WIN
Source: Herkimer Athletics
5/1/15: HERKIMER, NY – Playing their last 16 games against Mountain Valley
Conference opponents on Friday (5/1), the Herkimer Generals baseball team
collected their 23rd consecutive victory, defeating SUNY Adirondack 13-3 and 10-0.
Herkimer (31-3, 18-1) allowed all three of their runs in the first inning of the
doubleheader against the Timberwolves, giving Herkimer starter Chad Sinko a
scare with the possibility at that time in losing his first game of the season.
Sinko turned the corner after his defense behind him made exceptional plays in the
second, third and fourth innings. Jake Rouse made a great over-the-shoulder
catch in the second, just a couple steps away from the warning track. Matt
Lichtman tracked a lot of ground from the second base spot to catch a fly ball in
foul territory in the third, making the play just a few inches away from the baseball
field’s fence line. Then Patrick Dorrian made a terrific pick just inside the third
base line in the fourth, to his right, gunning out the runner from across the
diamond.
With Sinko’s defense in-line, the starter settled throwing a complete game. The
sophomore only allowed those three runs in the first inning, two of them earned,
for his fourth win (4-0) of the season.
Defense wasn’t the only phase getting the job done in game one however. Chris
Rave, Dorrian and Lichtman collecting multiple runs batted in against SUNY
Adirondack. Rave finished with three RBI, while both Dorrian and Lichtman finished
with two. Rave and Dorrian now share the team lead with 35 runs batted in. As for
Lichtman, the infielder has 17.
In game two, Herkimer witnessed their second perfect game
of the season, this time from freshman Joe Nellis. Michael
Harrington threw the Generals first perfect game against the
Timberwolves just over a week ago. Nellis did it Friday against
SUNY Adirondack, only needing five innings to do so with the
team 10-run ruling their opponent. Nellis hadn’t allowed a run
in his last two starts, and only four hits in 10 innings, but his
most recent performance toped both of those outings,
finishing with a season-high nine strikeouts.
Offensively, helping the Generals score 10 runs in game two
was Taishi Terashima, Tyler Phillips, Dorrian, Michael Fancher, Lichtman, Eric
Downey, Adam Nell and John Tandy. Each player had a run batted in, amassing
10 hits together.