Published: June 27, 2009 10:45 pm      

NYCBL: Power spin out against Oilers

Niagara Power coach Sam Kirby had his team running laps immediately following Saturday’s 9-2 loss against the Alfred Oilers in New York Collegiate Baseball League play.

“We’re going to run when we strike out looking, that’s a problem for me,” Kirby said. “We need to be aggressive on pitches in the zone, especially with two strikes, and tonight we weren’t.”

The Power (6-10) came into Saturday’s game toting a league-worst .182 batting average and did nothing to change that, as they struggled mightily at the plate, scattering five hits against the last place Oilers.

“We put ourselves in bad hitting counts, swung at some bad pitches, and it’s tough to manufacture many runs without getting any guys on base,” said Kirby.

The Power have found it difficult to produce baserunners against the Oilers this season. They were held scoreless in their last 27.1 innings against Alfred (5-9), until Brian Goodwin broke open the Power’s scoring with a bottom-of-the-ninth sacrifice that drove home Jacan Warren.

Eric Birch followed with a double into the right center field gap, giving the Power a second run on the board and adding a jolt of energy into the crowd of 310 fans. The Power’s ninth inning rally was cut short when A.J Roller grounded out with the bases loaded.

The Oilers jumped on the Power early and often. They scored a run in each of the first three innings before breaking the game open in the fifth with three straight doubles to score three runs and knock out Power pitcher Anthony Powell after just 4.1 innings pitched. The loss dropped Powell’s record to 0-3 and pushed his ERA to 8.81 on the season.

“He needs to rely on his fastball. It’s been good, and he has continued to throw his breaking pitches and his changeups a bit too much,” Kirby said. “He is a real smart kid and he’s learning from each one of his outings. I have a lot of trust in the kid and he’s not going to come out of my number four spot.”

Oilers pitcher Cael Johnson improved his record to 2-1 by keeping the Power bats at bay. He tossed seven innings of scoreless baseball, striking out seven batters and allowing just three hits.

The Oilers added three runs of insurance in the top of the eighth, led by Nathan Papadeas’ two-run single down the right field line. Papadeas went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs.

The Power visit the Allegany County Nitros tonight and the Webster Yankees on Wednesday.