STATE COLLEGE - Twenty-four hours after putting a solid whipping on the division-leading Auburn Doubledays, the State College Spikes played like a team that was suffering from withdrawal symptoms.
Not showing much energy from the opening pitch, the Spikes fell behind Jamestown 4-0 before finally falling to the Jammers, 4-2, before 2,770 fans at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.
"The energy just wasn't there tonight," said Spikes manager Kimera Bartee. "We got down early, a play here and a play there, and I am not going to make excuses, but maybe it was just coming off the bus trip or maybe it was a letdown after they played an outstanding game the night before against a pretty good team. Nothing against Jamestown, but Jamestown isn't Auburn. Maybe they (Spikes players) thought they (Jammers) were going to come into our park, lay down and play a tiddlywink game with us. Instead they came out, jumped on us early and we couldn't recover."
Spikes starting pitcher Trent Stevenson worked the first five innings, the righthander allowing two runs on seven hits, walking none and striking out one as his record fell to 0-3.
"In the end, it came down top the energy level not being there," said Bartee. "Trent had a rough first inning and although he got ahead of hitters early, he had trouble putting them away. They (Jamestown batters) did a good job with two strikes and they always say two-strike hits get you to Heaven. They did that very well in the first so compliments to them."
The Jammers took the early lead with a pair of runs in the top of the first inning. Ryan Goetz and Austin Barnes led off with singles and one out later, Josh Adams plated both Goetz and Barnes with a two-run double to centerfield.
With the Spikes unable to dent the scoreboard through the first six innings, the Jammers doubled their lead to 4-0 in the seventh on a bunt single, a RBI double, a line single to left and a sacrifice fly to centerfield.
Not to run away and hide, the Spikes made a little noise of their own in the bottom of the seventh when they cut their deficit in half with a pair of runs.
Kirk Singer doubled to left-center and Rodarrick Jones followed with a RBI single to left. Jones moved to third on a groundout by Derek Trent and scored when Taylor Lewis beat out a swinging bunt single in front of the plate. However, after plating the pair of runs, the Spikes couldn't do any more damage.
"When you are living on the edge like that, there is no telling what you have left in the tank," said Bartee. "Considering we aren't the 1927 Yankees, we can't afford to make mistakes and come out ahead. We have to execute, we have to play with energy and we have to compete for the entire nine innings. If at any point we don't, we are totally at the mercy of the other team. That is just the hand we were dealt and that is what we have to deal with. We can't simply go out, throw our gloves on the field and expect to win and that is what happened tonight."
Kirk Singer, an early substitution for Dan Gamache, led the Spikes at the plate with two hits in four at-bats.
The same two teams will be right back at it tonight in a single game beginning at 7:05 p.m. Matt Benedict (2-3) will toe the rubber for the Spikes, while the Jammers will counter with Dejai Oliver (1-3).
Notes: Wes Freeman is hitting .390 with a .440 on-base percentage, one home run and a dozen RBO over his 18 games in August..Pitchers Nick Kingham and Ryan Hafner are now 4th and 7th respectively in the New York-Penn League in ERA with marks of 2.36 and 2.56..Hafner's .218 opponents' batting average ranks fourth in the league..Taylor Lewis is tied for fourth in the NY-P League in triples with six..Last night's starting pitcher Matthew Neil was picked in the 29th round by the Marlins out of BYU. He walked onto the team in college after spending two years in New York as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
