Americans All-Around Performance Leads to 7-2 Victory Over Newark

NIAGARA FALLS, NY - The Niagara Falls Americans hosted the Newark Pilots and defeated their opponents by a score of 7-2. This win moves the Americans to 19-11, which leads the West Division in wins. Newark falls to .500, with a 13-13-1 record.

The Americans' 11-hit day was headlined by Allen Ramos, Chris Guzaldo, Gavyn Boyle, and Grant Moore. Ramos batted 2-of-4 with an RBI, two stolen bases, and a run scored. Guzaldo and Boyle each batted 2-of-4 with an RBI as well. Guzaldo did so with a double and a single, while Boyle's hits were both singles. Moore did not record a hit in the contest, but reached base on two walks and a hit by pitch and scored a run in all three baserunning opportunities.

Niagara Falls used just two pitchers in the contest. John Ondus pitched to his third win of the season and a quality start. Across 6.0 innings, Ondus allowed just two runs, only one earned, and struck out six. Hudson Boring entered to start the 7th inning, pitching the final 3.0 innings scoreless and earning his third save of the season. Boring allowed just one hit and struck out two of his nine batters faced.

The Pilots' offensive efforts were led by Chris Finocchario Jr., Cooper Loyal, and Nick DiGiacomo. Finocchario batted 3-of-4, the only Pilot with multiple hits. Loyal hit a single and worked an RBI walk across his four plate appearances. DiGiacomo batted 1-of-4 and scored a run.

Newark used a barrage of pitchers, with five total appearing. Alexi Simecek pitched the first inning, allowing one run and being tagged with the loss. Sean Driscoll pitched the next 2.1 innings, allowing four runs, three earned, and striking out two of his 16 batters faced. Mason Haarr pitched another 2.1 innings, allowing two runs, just one earned, and also striking out two. Ethan Chavez pitched 1.1, allowing one hit and striking out two of his five batters faced. Jason Brown pitched the 9th inning, striking out one of his five batters faced.

The Americans took a lead from the start of the game, scoring their first run in the bottom of the 1st. Grant Moore led off the game with a walk before advancing to second on a wild pitch. Two batters later, Gavyn Boyle drove in Moore on a single up the middle. 

Niagara Falls tacked another run on the board in bottom of the 3rd. A walk by Moore again led of the inning, followed by a steal of 2nd base. After two outs were put on the board, Chris Guzaldo hit a double down the left field line that scored Moore.

The home squad built upon a productive 3rd inning by having the biggest inning of the game in the 4th. Carmen Panaro and Nick Paszt started the inning with back-to-back singles before moving to scoring position on a Connor Kiefer sacrifice bunt. Allen Ramos continued his recent hot streak with a single to left center field that scored Panaro. Mason Haarr entered for Newark, and hit his first batter faced, Moore, to load the bases. The Americans scored an unconventional run in the next at bat. Evan Kohr hit a groundball to the 3rd baseman, who threw home to record Paszt out on the force out. An uncontrolled throw to 1st allowed Kohr to reach 1st on the fielder’s choice. Newark’s 1st baseman picked up the ball and applied a tag to Kohr to make sure he had touched first, which on a heads up play by Ramos and Moore, resulting in both runners advancing another base, Ramos scoring. Boyle batted next, striking out but reaching 1st on a throwing error on a dropped strike three. The error allowed Moore to cross home, and put Kohr on 3rd. Greydon Miller batted in the final run of the inning on a single to center field, scoring Kohr.

Newark scored both of their runs in the top of the 6th inning, started by Jason Brown reaching on a 2nd baseman throwing error.  Followed by back-to-back singles by Nick DiGiacomo and Chris Finocchario. The Pilots’ offensive production continued with back-to-back walks by Cooper Loyal and Noah Brooks, walking in Brown and DiGiacomo respectively. The Americans recovered after this start, recording an out on each of the next three batters, followed by scoring one run in the bottom of the inning.

Kiefer led off the inning with a single to center field before stealing 2nd base. The next batter grounded out, but allowed Kiefer to advance to 3rd. After a lineout put the second out on the board, Kohr hit another single to center field that allowed Kiefer to score the final run of the game. 

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Catch the next Americans home game tomorrow, July 8th, when we host the Buffalo Diesel in an exhibition scheduled to start at 6:30pm. It is Bark in the Park Night, so bring along your furry friend(s) and cheer on your Niagara Falls Americans! To purchase single-game or season tickets, call 716-215-6161 or visit niagarafallsamericans.com for more information. Season tickets start as low as $99! If you or someone you know is interested in sponsoring the Americans, or organizing a group outing to an Americans game, please contact General Manager Marc Witt at mwitt.canusa@gmail.com.