Slania shoulders load: Squirrels take opener

Flying Squirrels hurler Dan Slania tossed 5 2/3 scoreless innings and also drove in a pair of runs on Tuesday as the Squirrels (25-39) downed Binghamton (27-35), 8-1 at The Diamond.

Slania earned the win and allowed just four hits in the process. Christian Arroyo led the Richmond offense by drawing four of the Squirrels eight walks in the contest.

Richmond put their best foot forward to open the homestand with a four-run first inning against Binghamton knuckleballer Mickey Jannis. Christian Arroyo worked a one-out walk and moved to third base via a Ricky Oropesa single. Hunter Cole then worked a walk to load the bases and Myles Schroder brought in the game’s first run with another walk. A past ball brought home Oropesa for a 2-0 edge and Ali Castillo made it a 4-0 contest with a two-run single to left field.

Pitching with the early lead, Squirrels starter Dan Slania moved through the B-Mets lineup. Slania worked a 1-2-3 second inning and pitched around a pair of scratch base hits in the third. Slania tossed 53 pitches through the first three innings in the outing.

Jannis did not quite settle in but managed to maneuver through the second, third and fourth innings to keep the B-Mets deficit at 4-0. Jannis hit another snag in the fifth inning as Richmond added a pair of runs for a 6-0 lead. Myles Schroder laid down a two-out bunt base hit and Steve Lerud lined a singl toleft. Ali Castillo then worked a walk to load the bases, allowing Dan Slania to come to the plate and add to his outing. Slanie smacked a single between short and third to plate a pair of runs and aid his cause. Slania collected his first professional hit in the fourth inning and finished 2-3 at the plate with a pair of RBI’s.

Slania turned in the longest outing of his career by pitching into the sixth inning. Philip Evans opened the sixth with an infield base hit and Jayce Boyd followed with a base hit to left. Slania then struck out Dominic Smith and induced a pop up in foul territory to pick up his final two outs. Jake Smith entered and fielded a come-back line drive to keep Binghamton scoreless. Slania finished with 5 2/3 innings pitched and did not allow a run on four hits on 99 pitches.

Smithcarried the game into the seventh but encountered trouble when he walked the first three batters of the inning. Squirrels newcomer Preston Claiborne then entered with nobody out and induced a soft pop fly for the first out. Phillip Evans then put the B-Mets on the board with a base hit to right field for a 6-1 contest. Claiborne then picked up an inning-ending double play to limit thedamage. Claiborne finished with two scoless innings in his Diamond debut.

Richmond extended the lead to 8-1 with a pair of runs in the eighth inning off of B-Mets reliever Logan Taylor. Arroyo worked his fourth walk of the game and scored on a double to left centerfield from Ryder Jones. Ricky Oropesa followed suit with another double to score the game’s final run.