HOUGHTON, NY— For the third time this season, the Houghton Highlanders picked up a win in dramatic "walk-off" fashion, defeating the Elmira Soaring Eagles in extra innings, 9-8, but this time with a bit of a twist.
 
Kevin Zientara led off the bottom of the 10^th with a triple off the left field wall and the Highlanders pinch ran Micah Cassezza for him.  With one out, and the Soaring Eagles playing with a five-man infield, Joe Gross hit a chopper at the Elmira shortstop.  Cassezza broke for home and the throw, while a bit to the first base side of the plate, arrived in plenty of time, but as the Elmira catcher attempted a swipe tag, the ball tipped off his glove and Cassezza scored the winning run.
 
The Soaring Eagles jumped out to an early 6-1 lead with some aggressive baserunning and a couple of Houghton miscues.  But Houghton found their footing and began to fight back, plating a pair of runs in the bottom of the third and adding another in the bottom of the fourth. 
 
Elmira added a run in the top of the fifth on a throwing error, but Houghton answered back in the bottom of the sixth with back-to-back, two-out doubles by Joe Gross and Wayne Rode, cutting the Soaring Eagles' lead to 7-5.
 
A sacrifice fly by the Soaring Eagles in the top of the seventh pushed the lead back to three runs, but Houghton continued to press, scoring a pair in the bottom half of the innings when Jason Kauffeldt and Davis McMillan hit back-to-back singles then executed a double-steal to score Kauffeldt. Zientara would later bring home McMillan with an RBI groundout to trim the lead to one.
 
Jeremey Wilcox, who closed out the seventh, threw a 1-2-3 eighth, and Joe Gross led off the bottom half of the inning with an infield single, then advanced to second on a throwing error.  Rode moved Gross to third with a groundout, and Parr lofted a sacrifice fly to right to plate the tying run.
 
Ryan Newtown replaced Wilcox on the bump for the Highlanders and did not allow a run in either the ninth or the 10^th innings, earning his fourth win of the year.
 
GAME VITALS                           
Score: Elmira – 8 | Houghton - 9
Records: Elmira: 3-16 (1-4 Empire 8) | Houghton: 11-9 (3-6 Empire 8)
Venue: Kerr-Pegula Athletic Complex, Houghton College | Attendance: 15
 
KEY STATS:
>> Houghton has now won five games this season in their final at bat.  They have also won six one-run games this year. 
 
>> In the fourth inning, David Wessells reached base on an infield single then stole the 62^nd base of his career, passing Enrico Sukhdeo for first place on the Houghton Highlanders career list.
 
>> Wayne Rode went 3-for-5 with a double, raising his average on the year to a team-best .422.  Gross, Parr and Zientara each added two hits apiece, the former two adding a double apiece, while the latter doubled and tripled.
 
>> Ryan Newtown moved to 4-1 on the season, tossing two innings of scoreless relief, allowing only one infield single and striking out one.
 
COACH'S CORNER:
"Our team continues to show tremendous grit.  No matter how many times we get down, we continue to fight to the end.
 
"While I was pleased with the outcome, I still believe we can play much better baseball.  We made a number of mental and physical mistakes that we need to clean up.  Elmira pushed a lot of the right buttons tonight—they played hard and were incredibly tough to beat.  With all of that said, I will sleep better tonight knowing that we could have played better, but still showed enough resilience to come away with a win.
 
"I'm looking forward to seeing our guys tomorrow and getting ready for Keuka this weekend." – Coach Brian Reitnour
 
UP NEXT:
The Highlanders travel to Keuka College this Friday, April 23^rd to take on the Wolves in an Empire 8 conference doubleheader beginning at 1:00 p.m.