By Kevin Smith
WEBSTER, NY – The Dodgers continue to keep the Ridgemen in check.
Hornell once again got the best of Rochester for the second game this week as the Dodgers beat the Ridgemen 3-2 in New York Collegiate Action Friday night at Basket Road Field.
It is the second game this week for the Ridgemen against the Dodgers have been tied and Hornell took the lead late in the game.
The pitching matchup between Dodgers starter Nicholas Boyd (Central Connecticut) and Ridgemen starter CJ King (Mississippi Valley St.) was certainly back and forth all game.
But in the end, Boyd won the battle.
“The bullpen was really banged up and we needed that performance from Boyd,” Dodgers coach Tom Kenney said. “We knew Nick wouldn’t blow the lead the offense gave him in the seventh.”
The Dodgers righty pitched a complete game, and an efficient one to say the least. Boyd’s final number included two runs on nine hits with two strikeouts.
Although Boyd pitched the whole game, the righty presented the Ridgemen with plenty of scoring opportunities.
“Even though we took advantage of some of the scoring chances in tonight’s game, we made some mental mistakes,” Ridgemen Coach Taylor Hargrove said.
The two scoring chances Rochester cashed in on were in the fourth and fifth innings. Ridgemen right fielder Matthew Simmons (Hendrix) hit a would-be RBI single that led to him getting tag out trying to stretch his hit into a double in the fourth to cut Hornell’s deficit to 2-1.
In the fifth inning, Ridgemen third baseman Joshua Davis (Whitworth) hit an RBI groundout to tie the game at 2.
“Davis has come through big for us lately,” coach Taylor Hargrove added. “His hitting has come at the right time in scoring situations.”
After the fifth inning, Boyd got into a groove and settled down. Of the 13 batters faced sixth inning and beyond, Boyd only allowed three hits.
Even though Boyd’s pitching opponent didn’t have a complete game, King still had a quality outing.
The Ridgemen righty went six innings pitched, allowing six hits and two runs (one earned).
“King did a great job getting ahead of guys,” Coach Hargrove added. “King did pretty well getting out of couple jams tonight.”
When King was taken out of the game between the sixth and seventh inning, the Dodgers tacked on a run in the top seventh courtesy of Dodgers shortstop Chris Roeder’s (St. John Fisher) RBI double to bring in Dodgers second basemen Jacob Kenney and take the deciding factor 3-2 lead.
“Boyd made sure to keep this lead intact and he did,” Coach Kenney added. “There’s RBIs and two-out RBIs; Roeder has been phenomenal and definitely came through at a big time.”
Boyd notched his second win of the season for Hornell. Dodger pitchers have only allowed 15 runs the past five games.
“Our pitching staff has been great as of late,” Coach Kenney added. “Boyd definitely gave our bullpen a rest since they’ve been a workhorse these past few games.”
Simmons went 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI for the Ridgemen.
The Dodgers have won three of their last four games.
Hornell (5-7) travels to Syracuse for a doubleheader with the Jr. Chiefs (8-6). A 1 p.m. first pitch is scheduled for game one.
Rochester gets a day off before traveling to Hornell for a 7 p.m. start, Sunday night.
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