Newark splits doubleheader vs. Victor

The Newark Pilots split an afternoon doubleheader against the Victor RailRiders Saturday afternoon at Victor High School.The RailRiders (7-5) blanked the Pilots in their 2-0 victory in Game 1. The visitors responded with a season-high 11 runs in Game 2 as Newark (5-8) defeated Victor, 11-4, in the nightcap.Game 1Victor scored twice in the first inning and never looked back as Riders starting pitcher Luke Tomczyk (Monroe C.C.) fired a complete-game two-hitter to earn the win on the mound.In the bottom of the first inning, former Pilot Tommy Wagner (Cornell) reached first on a one-out walk. Brady Acker (George Mason), who went 3-for-4 against the Pilots Friday night at Colburn Park, doubled to put both runners in scoring position. Evan Fernandez (Jacksonville) drove them in with a two-out base hit two batters later.Newark’s best opportunity to score came in the ensuing half inning as the Pilots loaded the bases with two outs. Following a Cody Wiktorski (St. John Fisher) base hit, Corey Lerche (Central Connecticut State) and Frankie Gregoire (Marist) were hit by a pitch and walked, respectively, with two outs. However, James Baer (Delta) grounded out to end the threat.Tomczyk went 1-2-3 through the side in the first, third, fourth, fifth and seventh innings. He struck out four and walked one.Pilots starter Clayton Spiker (Saginaw Valley State) was the tough-luck loser with a complete game in his first start of the season. He allowed two runs on four hits, three walks and one strike out.Game 2Newark’s bats came alive after being shutout in the first game with 11 runs on 12 hits. Nine different Pilots recorded at least one hit while Martin, Michael Lanza (Bryant) and Blake Valley (San Francisco) each finished 2-for-4.Martin fell one RBI short of the franchise single-game record with five. He blew open Newark’s 2-0 lead with a three-run dinger down the line in left field, part of a five-run fifth inning that pushed the Pilots advantage to 7-0. Then in sixth inning, Martin doubled home a pair of runs, making it 9-0. He would then score on a base hit from Lanza in the next at-bat.In his first start of the season, Charlie Sobieraski (Buffalo) tossed five shutout innings to earn the win. Former Pilot Joe Simmons (St. John Fisher) broke up Sobieraski’s no-hit bid with a slow roller towards third base with two outs in the fourth, but that would be the only hit the righty would allow. He walked two and struck out two.Victor scored three runs of off reliever Blake Brailsford (BYU) in its half of the sixth. Simmons drove in the RailRiders’ first run with an RBI single. He later scored on a wild pitch to make it 11-3.Victor starter Jesse Bogacz (Kenyon) took the loss to fall to 0-1. He was responsible for five runs (four earned) on four hits and a walk despite a game-high seven strikeouts.