YORK – One bad inning doomed the Geneseo Thunder in their first playoff game Thursday night. The visiting Webster Rattlers touched up Thunder starter Alex Yarton for four runs in the third inning then hung on for a 4-2 win. Geneseo managed only four hits and whiffed nine times in their first game since last Thursday.
Despite the week-long layoff, Coach Mark Bennett said using the break as an excuse would be a copout.
“The layoff, I don’t even think that comes into play, and if anybody says that, it’s just an excuse,” he said. “We started off slow and finished slow. We didn’t regroup.”
It was a sluggish day offensively, to say the least, for Geneseo, who couldn’t bounce back from the early deficit as they have numerous times throughout the regular season. The Thunder squandered a leadoff double from Yarton in second and only managed one run in the fifth despite having two runners on with only one out.
Alex Syberg and Andrew Short drove in a run apiece to lead Geneseo’s offense. Yarton finished 2 for 3 with a run scored, and John Ridler added a double and a run.
Yarton went the distance on the mound, giving up four earned runs, striking out nine and issuing four walks.
The Thunder will play in an elimination game Saturday in York at a time to be announced.
However, Bennett said being backed against the wall wouldn’t really change the way Geneseo will approach the game.
“I’m not going to change anything,” he said. “If anything, maybe I’ll try to swipe another base or two, or maybe use the bunt. Outside of that, I don’t think it’s going to change the way I do anything because if you do, the guys aren’t used to that, and it could hamper them – it could throw them out of their realm of normalcy.”