STATEN ISLAND, NY - They kept on coming but ultimately fell short on the scoreboard. Despite a sixth sellout crowd of 7,171, the Staten Island Yankees couldn’t come up with the big hit leaving a plethora of runners on base in a tough 3-1 defeat to Oneonta at Richmond County Bank Ball Park in St. George on Friday Fireworks Night which also honored fathers.

“We just got to put it to the past. It’s tough to end a game like that,” lamented shortstop Addison Maruszak who returned from a leg injury and had a couple of hits including his first pro home run in the team’s second loss in the last three dropping the home series.

Having grounded into four double plays including a couple of inning enders, there were the first place Baby Bombers turning up the heat once again in their last licks loading the bases thanks to an E6 and a pair of walks with one out against Tigers’ closer Lester Oliveros. Standing in the way were two guys Staten Island skipper Pat McMahon didn’t mind having up there in such a big spot in Maruszak and center fielder Ray Kruml.

Oliveros had already blown away first baseman Erik Lovett getting him swinging on some high cheese. Up stepped Maruszak, who already looked comfortable in his first game back having provided the Bombers their only run. Here he was with a golden opportunity to tie the game with a hit. The count went to 3-1 but he couldn’t deliver fouling off an Oliveros offering before chasing an outside heater for the second out.

“He was nasty,” the first-year shortstop relayed to an equally disappointed teammate Kruml, who sat in the dugout and watched the fireworks before returning to his locker.

Kruml was Staten Island’s last chance for another two out comeback. The patient leadoff hitter worked the count full after being behind but swung and missed at another Oliveros’ fastball which might have been off the plate to end a frustrating night.

“We got down early. We fought back to 3-1. Had a couple of opportunities with runners in scoring position. We just couldn’t come up with a clutch hit. We battled hard. It just didn’t fall our way,” Kruml explained outside the locker room.

“He got me down on two away. You know. It was a battle. Caught me chasing a pitch that might’ve been outside. I tip my cap to him. It was a good pitch.”

The Bombers fell behind early as the Tigers got the jump on losing starter David Phelps (2-1), scoring twice in the first on a Carlos Ramirez RBI groundout followed by a two out Wade Lamont sharp single to right.

Phelps eventually settled down coming back strong to retire 12 of the next 15 batters before serving up a two out fifth inning Brandon Douglas solo blast to left center which put the Tigers ahead 3-0.

His teammates had runners on all night but couldn’t cash in due to the four twin killings along with a couple of baserunning blunders including a weird DP that Maruszak grounded into where Oneonta shortstop Brandon Douglas missed second base on the relay getting only one out. Lovett was already off second thinking he was out and then got into a rundown before being tagged out 1-5-2 concluding the bizarre play in the third. Not surprisingly, Kruml followed with a two out single with nobody on and swiped second but second baseman David Adams ended the inning by taking a called third strike.

That was the kind of night it was. In the same inning that Maruszak went deep, catcher Mitch Abeita ledoff with a double but then was caught napping off second. After Lovett made the second out, Maruszak connected off winning Tigers’ starter David Stokes (2-1) with nobody on base driving a pitch over the left field fence to break up the shutout.

“When I came back today, I talked to a couple of people,” Maruszak mentioned.

“Tino [Martinez] talked to me. My advisor is Reggie Jefferson. He played. They both told me the same thing. Just try to go for the middle of the field. You know. Don’t try to do anything special cause you’ve been hurt. Just get a good swing off and hit it to the middle of the field and let things happen. That was good advice.”

Unfortunately, it was the only offense the Staten Island Yankees could muster. They’ll pack their bags and try to regroup for a weekend series upstate at Tri-City.

Notes: The Bombers left 17 baserunners on base while their opponents stranded 11. … The Oneonta home run hitter Douglas finished three-for-four with a couple of runs scored. … Ben Guez and Luis Arlet each had a pair of hits and a stolen base for the Tigers (13-11). … Maruszak was the only S.I. player to notch two hits getting two of the team’s seven. … With a hit in three trips, Adams finished the series 7-for-12 with three doubles, three runs scored and three RBI’s. … Kruml’s eight steals paces the team. … Maruszak and Adams also teamed up for a nice 6-4-3 DP with the shortstop reaching behind before flipping to the second baseman who made the turn with the runner right on him. … Phelps went five allowing three earned on six hits with a walk and three K’s. … RP Nick Asselin worked three scoreless while fanning four before Josue Selenes tossed a 1-2-3 ninth K-ing two to keep his perfect ERA intact. … The game took two hours and 42 minutes to complete before what became one more sellout than the five they had all last year. … Bombers (15-9) are back at it tonight for the first of three at Tri-City.

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