Everything seemed all right. The Webster Yankees were cruising along. Brian Pullyblank had another solid performance working when he turned the game over to his bullpen. Josh Brown was on the mound. He had two outs in the eighth, and then everything came undone. The Hornell Dodgers tied the score and finished off Webster in the tenth by a score of five to four. For the Dodgers the extra inning affair was their third out of the last four games.
Hornell second baseman, Nick Mayo, drove in the tying run with a two-out triple to the fence in the top of the eighth. For Mayo the hit was sweet redemption. The Dodger second baseman had committed two errors earlier in the game. One of the errors led to the first two Yankee runs.
For the Yankees the game was a case of opportunities lost.
“Twice we had runners on with no outs and didn’t take advantage of it,” commented Mike Kelly. “We didn’t execute the bunt when we needed.” “We tried to out-slug them, and it didn’t work.”
Gary Helmick led off the bottom of the first getting hit by a pitch. One out later Nelson Santos singled, and Joe McIntyre moved the runners to second and third. Josh Johnson hit a grounder at Mayo who booted the ball and Helmick and Santos scored.
Webster tacked on two more runs in the fourth. Johnson reached base on an error. Ryan Sullivan drew a walk, and Jason Stifler singled. Shawn Bailey drew a bases-loaded walk, and Mark Stuckless followed with an RBI single. Yanks 4 Dodgers 0.
The Dodgers looked to threaten in the sixth. With a runner on first Hornell catcher, Justin Hart took a Pullyblank offering and sent a shot into deep center field. Johnson made what appeared to be a game-saving catch. The Toledo University standout chased the ball down on the warning track and with his back to home plate made a backhanded catch. The catch saved at least one run as Hart would have easily had a one-run triple.
Instead Webster clung to its lead. That is until the Hornell rally in the eighth.
Pullyblank turned in another strong performance. The ‘Caledonia Kid’ pitched five and two-thirds innings, allowing one run, and striking out four.
Bryan Gardner was the tough-luck loser. The closer gave up an unearned run in the tenth; the first run the southpaw has allowed on the season. Gardner finished with three strike outs.
The game marked the first appearance of the season for Bailey.
Webster takes on the Allegany County Nitros tomorrow. First pitch is set for 1pm at Dugan Yard. Robert DiNuzzo gets the start for the home team.
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