By P.J. Harmer
ONEONTA _ Carmelo Jaime packs a lot of punch in a small body.
Listed at 5-foot-9 and 160 pounds on the Oneonta Tigers' roster, Jaime went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs as Oneonta rallied for an 8-5 New York-Penn League victory over the Williamsport Crosscutters in front of an announced crowd of 514 at Damaschke Field on Thursday night.
The O-Tigers (31-25) remained in a tie for the lead atop the Stedler Division with Lowell (32-26), an 8-6 winner over Auburn. Oneonta and Williamsport (33-26) complete a three-game series at 7:05 tonight.
The O-Tigers then go on the road for five straight games, including two at Lowell beginning at 5:05 p.m. Saturday. Following a 1:35 p.m. game Sunday at the Spinners, Oneonta visits Staten Island for three games.
The O-Tigers snapped a 4-all tie in the sixth inning Thursday.
Eric Roof opened with a fly ball to left-center field. Williamsport left fielder Stephen Batts and center fielder Leandro Castro went for the ball. One shouted for it but neither slowed much. The ball nicked Batts' glove for a two-base error.
Jaime then singled to right, scoring Roof to make it 5-4.
After Chris Sedon popped out on a bunt attempt to first, Jamie Johnson (3-for-5) tripled to center, easily scoring Jaime from first. Castro, who had picked up the ball at the base of the wall, threw wide of third base. The ball skipped to the backstop, allowing Johnson to score to make it 7-4.
Michael Rockett flied out to left for the second out and Rawley Bishop was walked by Williamsport pitcher Ebelin Lugo, who was then replaced by Spencer Arroyo.
John Murrian followed with a single to left, putting runners on first and second. Alexis Espinoza then doubled to center, scoring Bishop for an 8-4 lead and moving Murrian to third. Wade Gaynor grounded out to short to end the inning.
Oneonta took a 1-0 lead in the first on an RBI double from Murrian, but Williamsport scored three times in the top of the second off Oneonta starter Nathan Newman. Batts had an RBI triple to highlight the inning.
The O-Tigers cut the deficit to 3-2 in the bottom of the inning on Jaime's homer, which stayed just fair and cleared the left-field wall. It was Jaime's third home run of the season.
Williamsport made it 4-2 in the fourth when David Doss hit a controversial home run to right. The ball appeared to have hit the warning track and bounced over the fence, but field umpire Brett Houseman signaled for a home run. O-Tigers manager Howard Bushong came out to argue the play and after Houseman chatted with home plate umpire Nick Lentz, the home run stood.
Oneonta right fielder Alexis Espinoza was also trying to get the attention of the umpires and seemed to be pleading for them to come and look at the warning track where he was pointing to a spot to show where the ball had landed.
The umpires left the call as a home run and after a brief argument with Bushong, the game continued.
Oneonta got one back in the fourth on some nifty base running. With Sedon on first and Gaynor on third, Williamsport pitcher Nicholas Hernandez picked Sedon off first. However, he got into a rundown and Gaynor scored before Sedon was eventually tagged out by first baseman Darin Ruf.
Oneonta tied it in the fifth on an RBI groundout from Bishop.
Rockett, Murrian, Espinoza and Roof all contributed three hits for the O-Tigers, who finished with 15 hits.
Cory Hamilton (4-4) pitched four innings of relief to earn the victory. He allowed one run on two hits, striking out four and walking one.
___
P.J. Harmer can be reached at pharmer@thedailystar.com or 607-432-1000, ext. 229.
O-Tigers 8, Crosscutters 5
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Barnes ss0100Espinoza rf5021
Porter ss3000Gaynor 3b4100
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