Courtesy of HornellDodgers.com.
HORNELL, N.Y. — The Hornell Dodgers stranded the tying and winning runs on base as the Geneva Twins escaped McDonough Park with a 6-5 win. Geneva led 5-0 after four innings and now have a 1-0 lead in the Western Division semifinals.
Geneva jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first when they collected four hits. Taylor Nichols and Chris Casto each had RBI singles and Nichols scored on a wild pitch.
Casto made it 4-0 in the third when he connected on a two-out solo homer to right field.
Luke Stewart made it 5-0 in the fourth when he doubled home Dillon Hamlin.
Hornell got on the board in the fifth when Matt Calhoun (Harding) connected on a three-run homer to center after a walk to Cody Stevenson (Webster) and a single by Chris Roeder (St. John Fisher).
Brandon Martinez’s double in the 8th of the diving glove of Stevenson gave the Twins the insurance run they needed.
The Dodgers got the game back to two runs, 6-4, when Ben Gielow (Ouachita Baptist) hit a RBI grounder that scored Dylan Dunn (Hagerstown CC).
After Nate Harris recorded the first two outs of the 9th, the Dodgers mounted a comeback. Calhoun and Will Benenson (Franklin & Marshall) drew walks before Dunn singled to make it 6-5. After Dunn took 2nd base on the first pitch to Tyler Stanford (Harding) the Twins recorded a controversial third out when Casto caught a foul ball as he approached the out-of-play line.
Casto led the Twins 15-hit attack with a four-for-five, two RBI day. Stewart was three-for-five. Jon Menke earned the win with five innings of work. He walked two and struck out seven. Alex Juday went 1.2 innings and got a huge double play in the seventh. Harris got the final three outs to earn the save.
Calhoun was two-for-three with three RBI, Gielow was two-for-four with a RBI, and Stanford was two-for-five. The Dodgers bullpen of Jordan Quinn (Southeastern CC) and Tyler Wilson (Monroe CC) kept the team in the game with 5.2 innings of work. Quinn didn’t allow a run and struck out five while Wilson went 2.2 and allowed just three hits and struck out two.
Game two of the series is on Saturday at McDonough Park at 7 p.m.
In the other Western Division series, the Niagara Power defeated the Olean Oilers 4-0 to take the 1-0 lead.
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