Genesee Community College starting pitcher Ruben Medina (Maracaibo, VEN) was nearly perfect on Tuesday afternoon against Finger Lakes Community College. Nearly. Medina started game one of the afternoon double header and allowed a one-out walk in the first inning to the visiting Lakers before retiring the next nineteen batters in a row, completing the first no-hitter in nine years for GCC. Medina quickly erased the top of the first inning walk with a ground ball double play and then set down the next eighteen batters on ten ground balls, five fly-outs and three strike outs.
“Ruben has done a great job for us all year,” said Cougars head coach Skip Sherman. “He was rewarded for all the hard work he has put in this year. He comes ready every game and prepares like he should.”
Genesee took the lead in the bottom of the first inning after Shakeel Newton (Christiansted, Virgin Islands) led off with a double and then scored on a sacrifice fly from Brandon Collins (Toronto, ON). The Cougars added two more in the first on a two-run double by Rafael Lozada (Santo Domingo, DR) that plated Tyler Koronas (Naples, FL) and Fauchedre Celestijn (Willemstad, Curacao).
GCC added to their lead with a run in the third inning on a sacrifice fly from Lozada, a run in the fourth inning on a solo homerun from Collins and two runs in the fifth inning on an RBI double from Mark Knight (Christiansted, Virgin Islands) and a sacrifice fly from Koronas.
The 7-0 lead was more than enough and would hold for Medina who knew throughout the afternoon that he was in the middle of something special.
“I knew I had a no-hitter going but I just focused on the game and took it pitch-by-pitch,” said Medina. “I tried to just spot my pitches and use my curveball and changeup to set up my fastball.”
Ruben Medina (red glove) celebrates with teammates after throwing a no-hitter in game one against Finger Lakes Community College on Tuesday afternoon
Genesee won game one 7-0 on Medina’s first collegiate no-hitter and third lifetime, as he threw two no-hitters in Little League.
Celestijn went 1-2 with two runs scored, Collins was 1-2 with a run scored and two runs batted in and Lozada was 1-3 with two runs batted in.
In game two, GCC starting pitcher Kyle Taylor (Ajax, ON) held the Lakers scoreless until the fourth inning when he gave up the game’s first run. The Cougars responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning highlighted by a Jean Rodriguez (Caguas, Puerto Rico) RBI single to take the lead.
Taylor surrendered a run on a suicide squeeze in the fifth inning, which tied the game and proved to be his final inning pitched in the game. Finger Lakes CC took the lead in the sixth inning, scoring a run off of reliever Dan Harms (Hamburg, Germany) and then added an insurance run in the seventh off of Collins. The insurance run proved to be a big one, as the Cougars managed a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to close to within one at 4-3, but could not complete the comeback and fell by the same score.
Overall, the Genesee offense managed just four hits in game two. Rodriguez was 1-2 with an RBI and a run scored, Collins was 1-4 with an RBI and Celestijn was 1-4 with a run scored.
Genesee (20-10 overall) will host Monroe Community College for an afternoon double-header on Thursday starting at 1pm.
