ONEONTA _ Going 180 feet on a wild pitch is a rarity in baseball, but Oneonta's Eric Harryman made it look easy Thursday night at Damaschke Field.
With Harryman on second and two out in the bottom of the fifth inning, Brooklyn reliever Tim Stronach threw a ball in the dirt that soon hit the backstop. Harryman rounded third as Jordan Abruzzo jogged to retrieve the ball, then slid into home ahead of the catcher's throw to a covering Stronach.
The play, which came with Bryan Pounds at the plate, resulted in the final run of the O-Tigers' 5-4 New York-Penn League victory over the Brooklyn Cyclones. Oneonta (15-14) scored four times in the fifth en route to a triumph in front of a season-high 3,893 fans.
"(Abruzzo) kind of looked confused," said Harryman, whose two-out double down the third-base line tied the score at 4. "I started taking off and I saw he went after it kind of slow, so I just kept going and took a chance. ... Right as I touched third, I saw his back still turned and he wasn't at the ball yet, so I kind of stutter-stepped and just took off."
Oneonta manager Ryan Newman said Harryman made the decision to keep running.
"He knows how hard he's running," Newman said. "That's all on him. That's a great hustle play by him."
Oneonta (15-14) moved into a first-place tie in the Stedler Division with Vermont, which lost, 5-1, to Williamsport on Thursday. The Tigers and Cyclones (13-16) finish their three-game set at 7 tonight before Vermont visits Damaschke Field for a three-game series beginning at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Oneonta's run spurt in the fifth seemed unlikely against Cyclones starter Jeff Kaplan, who started the inning with a 4-1 lead. Kaplan limited the Tigers to two hits before the last of the fifth, which started with back-to-back flyouts by Angel Flores and Josh Workman.
Brent Wyatt then drew a five-pitch walk and stole second before Ben Guez walked on seven pitches.
"He pitched a great ballgame up until that point," Newman said of Kaplan. "Sometimes that happens. Somebody gets in his head and things unravel and it carried over to the reliever."
Chris White then hit a two-run double into the right-center field gap, cutting Oneonta's deficit to 4-3.
"I was looking one way and for a pitch to hit," said White, who finished 3-for-4. "He happened to give me the right pitch over the plate. He kind of hung a slider out there and I hit it hard. Fortunately, it hit the gap."
After White's double, Brooklyn manager Edgar Alfonzo pulled Kaplan and brought in Stronach.
Harryman lined Stronach's first pitch down the third-base line for a double, easily scoring White to tie the score at 4.
"I was just looking for a pitch I could hit and trying to get him in," said Harryman, who connected on an inside fastball. "It was a big run and I got the pitch and hit it. It was perfect."
Two pitches later, the ball squirted under Abruzzo and Harryman gave Oneonta the go-ahead run.
"He hasn't had a lot of opportunities," White said of Harryman, who has appeared in 14 games this season. "But when he comes in, he gets the job done in the biggest ways, so it's good to have him on the team."
Newman said his team has been coming up with timely hitting in the first two games with Brooklyn.
"It seems like the last two nights we've had some big two-out hits and some action happening with two outs," Newman said. "That's the mark of a good team. These guys are playing hard."
Mark Brackman (2-1) earned the victory, pitching two innings in relief of starter David Stokes. He allowed four runs on eight hits in four innings. Brackman yielded one hit and struck out two.
Steve Gilman followed with two innings of scoreless relief, and Lester Oliveros earned his third save despite giving up a hit in the ninth.
Brooklyn opened the scoring in the first. Reese Havens led off with a triple and scored when Kirk Nieuwenhuis grounded out to short. Oneonta tied it in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single from Pounds, who finished with two hits.
The Cyclones scored two in the third _ on an RBI double from Jake Eigsti and a sacrifice fly from Nieuwenhuis. Brooklyn scored its final run in the fifth on an RBI single from Eric Campbell.
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P.J. Harmer can be reached at pharmer@thedailystar.com or 607-432-1000, ext. 229.
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o-tigers 5, cyclones 4
{"Sports agate MLB teams"/}BROOKLYNONEONTA
{"Sports agate MLB batting"/}abrhbiabrhbi
Havens dh5120Guez cf1200
Nwnhuis cf4122White rf-lf4132
Lutz 3b1000Gosse 2b1000
Cmpbll ph3011Hrrymn 2b3111
Satin 2b4000Pounds 3b3021
Davis 1b4000Nowlin dh4000
Arbruzzo c4010Ramirez 1b4011
Ratliff rf3000Flores c3000
Clark lf4120Wrkman lf3000
Eigsti ss4121Arlet rf0000
Wyatt ss2100
{"Sports agate MLB batting totals"/}Totals364104Totals28565
{"Sports agate MLB 9inning"/}Brooklyn102010000""4
Oneonta10004000x""5
{"Sports agate body text"/}E""Kaplan (1), Pounds (11). LOB""Brooklyn 9, Oneonta 5. 2B""Eigsti (3), Clark (1), White (2), Harryman (2) 3B""Havens (1), Nieuwenhuis (1), Pounds (2). SB""Campbell (1), Ratliff (1), Havens (3), Wyatt (2), Guez (8). SF""Nieuwenhuis.
{"Sports agate MLB pitching"/}BrooklynIPHRERBBSO
Kaplan4ª34453
Stomach, L 2-43¤31112
Oneonta
Stokes484422
Brackman, W 2-1210002
Gilman, H 3200011
Oliveros, S 3110000
{"Sports agate body text"/}Stokes pitched to 2 batters in the 5th. Umpires""Home, Luke Hamelton. Field, Chris Graham. T""2:52. A""3,893.
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New York-Penn League STANDINGS
{"Sports agate body text"/}McNamara Division
WLPct.GB
Staten Island (Yanks)1811.621""
Hudson Valley (Rays)1613.5522
Aberdeen (Orioles)1415.4834
Brooklyn (Mets)1316.4485
Pinckney Division
WLPct.GB
Jamestown (Marlins)198.704""
Auburn (Jays)1613.5524
Batavia (Cards)1613.5524
Williamsport (Phillies)1513.53641/2
Mahoning Valley (Inds)1415.4836
State College (Pirates)721.250121/2
Stedler Division
WLPct.GB
Oneonta (Tigers)1514.517""
Vermont (Nationals)1514.517""
Lowell (Red Sox)1217.4143
Tri-City (Astros)1118.3794
Thursday's Games
Batavia 4, Staten Island 2
Aberdeen 2, Jamestown 1
Mahoning Valley 5, Lowell 3
Tri-City 5, State College 2
Williamsport 5, Vermont 1
Oneonta 5, Brooklyn 4
Hudson Valley 4, Auburn 3
Friday's Games
Auburn at Hudson Valley
Batavia at Staten Island
Brooklyn at Oneonta
Jamestown at Aberdeen
Mahoning Valley at Lowell
Tri-City at State College
Williamsport at Vermont
Saturday's Games
Batavia at Auburn
Brooklyn at Staten Island
Hudson Valley at Aberdeen
Jamestown at State College
Lowell at Tri-City
Mahoning Valley at Williamsport
Vermont at Oneonta
Sunday's Games
Auburn at Batavia
Hudson Valley at Aberdeen
Jamestown at State College
Lowell at Tri-City
Mahoning Valley at Williamsport
Staten Island at Brooklyn
Vermont at Oneonta
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