By ANTHONY SAMBROTTO
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — Fans of the NYCBL were looking for two back-and-forth, entertaining games from the league’s two best teams on Friday.
The Hornell Dodgers and Niagara Power did not disappoint those fans, with the Power taking game one 8-6 and the Dodgers taking game two 6-5 in New York Collegiate Baseball League action at Sal Maglie Stadium.
The Power led the Dodgers by a half game at the start of Friday’s action and 25 runs later, that remained unchanged. Both games were seven innings long and the Power were actually the away team in game one to accommodate a previously rescheduled game.
The Dodgers started off game one by chasing Power starter Dallas Deavers (University of North Georgia) in the second inning after he walked five batters and gave up a hit. Fortunately for the Power, the bullpen was able to stop the bleeding and held Hornell to a 1-0 lead.
The Power came roaring back and built a 5-2 lead with RBI from five different players heading into the bottom of the fifth.
In that inning the Dodgers put up four runs against three different Power relievers. At the end of five, it was 6-5 Dodgers.
However, anyone who has watched a Power game this season knows how potent their offense can be. A half inning later, Caleb Lang (Cairn University) tripled home two runs to give the lead right back to the Power. With those two RBI, Lang is now tied with the most in the NYCBL with 25.
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Lang would come around to score an insurance run on an error to make it 8-6 heading into the final inning.
Nick Campe (Olivet Nazarene University) shut the door in the seventh once to pick up his league-leading 11th save. tied the record for most saves in Power single-season history dating back to 2007.
Taking the loss for the Dodgers was starter Conner Grey (St. Bonaventure) who went 5.1 innings, giving up six runs (five earned) on seven hits and striking out six.
Nathaniel Lagos (North Greenville) who helped the Power avoid further damage in the fifth inning and who also pitched a scoreless sixth got the win.
With both managers keeping most of their lineup from game one intact, game two featured more of the same exciting baseball.
Once again it was the Dodgers getting out to an early lead pushing across two runs on Power starter Ryan Broaderick (Clearwater Christian College) by way of a sacrifice fly and a throwing error.
But once again it the Power who battled back and took the lead.
After tying the game 2-2 in the fourth, designated hitter Paul Bretton (Florida Southern College) hit a 2-RBI double off Hornell starter Troy Montemayor (Baylor).
After each team scored runs in the sixth inning, the score sat at 5-4, Power with the chance for Campe to set the single-season record for saves. Unfortunately for him, the Dodgers had other plans with Tommy LaCongo (St. Bonaventure) coming through with a pinch-hit single to tie the game and send it into extras.
Hornell’s bullpen prevented yet another Power comeback in the bottom of the seventh, and Thad Johnson (St. Bonaventure) singled home the game-winning run off of Campe in the eighth to put the Dodgers ahead for good.
Campe suffered his first blown save of the season, and game two was also only the second time all season that Campe has even allowed a run in his 16 appearances.
Montemayor got the win for Hornell going seven innings, allowing six hits and five runs (two earned). Montemayor is now 5-0 on the season.
“I told our guys it was going to be a battle,” Power manager Josh Rebandt said. “We have a lot of history with these guys with close games and in this series it is going to come down to one hit or one pitch or play in the field, but that is baseball and those are the things that make a difference.
For the Power, Mason Irby (Jones County Junior College) increased his lead in the NYCBL batting title, picking up four hits in game one. He is now batting .371 on the season.
“They (Irby and Lang) are just swinging at the right pitches in the right counts and are letting the ball travel to where they want it in the zone,” Rebandt said. ” They are confident in the box and comfortable right now and that’s what you want from the top of your lineup.”
Rebandt also gave a lot of credit to his closer for tying the record for saves and said his pitcher will bounce back from his game two performance.
“They did score a couple on him but I don’t think he struggled they just made a few good swings on him,” he said. “But he’s Campe, he’s great at the back end of his bullpen but tonight just wasn’t his night.”
The Power and Dodgers will once again play a doubleheader Saturday afternoon. The Power will be the home team for both games this time, with first pitch for the nine inning first game at 4 p.m., and the second seven-inning game will start a half-hour later.
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