By CAMERON BOON
WEBSTER, N.Y. — All it took was one swing, and the game was blown open.
Steven Goldstein (Kansas) provided that swing, a three-run home run to right field, and all of a sudden the Hornell Dodger lead was increased from one to four in the top of the third inning on Thursday afternoon.
“I was just sitting fastball,” Goldstein said. “I got it and it just felt good.”
That was all of the distance they would need, as the Dodgers got back to the .500 mark with a 4-1 win over the Rochester Ridgemen in New York Collegiate Baseball League action at Basket Road Field.
Goldstein’s two-out jack scored Kellen Brown (St. Petersburg Coll) and Tyler Walter (St. Bonaventure) and gave Hornell their second straight win on the road at Webster.
“This was a big trip for us,” Hornell manager Tom Kenney said. “Our goal coming up was to sweep these two games and get back to .500 and get in the thing.”
The Dodgers now sit 1.5 games behind the first-place Niagara Power going into Thursday night’s games while the Ridgemen are back three games of their Thruway rivals.
“I just think we’re getting more comfortable now by playing more games,” Goldstein said.
While the Dodgers are hot, the Ridgemen are not. After starting 2-1, they have dropped four straight and five of their last six games in a slump that dates back to a week ago.
The Ridgemen offense is the struggle, as they are only averaging 2.5 runs per game after only tallying the one run today.
Hornell used a balanced attack, with all nine batters reaching base and seven hitters recording a knock. Trevor Thompson (Ithaca) and Tommy LaCongo (St. Bonaventure) led the way with multiple base hits.
The Dodgers started their run production in the second inning against Rochester starter Mitchell Donahue (Toccoa Falls), who struggled throughout the day.
LaCongo drew a bases loaded walk that scored Tyler Walter (St. Bonaventure) to give Hornell a 1-0 lead. But a curious decision by Jack Ciombor to bunt forced the second out at home and then a fielder’s choice allowed Donahue to finish the inning with just the one run.
Donahue finished the afternoon only going 4.1 innings in his first loss of the season, allowing four runs on five hits with two walks and two strikes.
The problem was his control, as he threw 87 pitches, but only 45 strikes.
His counterpart, CJ Lee (Webster University) was not too much more efficient, throwing 100 pitches and only 57 strikes, but he was able to last a little longer.
Lee went six innings, holding the Ridgemen scoreless and allowing five hits and striking out one batter.
Rochester got on the board in the eighth when Cole Metcalfe (Bellarmine) hit a slow-rolling infield single up the middle scoring Armando Valentin (Benedict).
The Ridgemen are off until Sunday, when they will play the Dodgers again in a 5:00 p.m. matchup at Maple City Park.
The Dodgers have a home-and-home series with the Olean Oilers on tap, with the first game set for 11:00 a.m. on Friday morning at Maple City Park.
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