BY RAEGAN RYAN
HOUGHTON, N.Y. – The Hornell Dodgers found their sweet spot in their final at-bat to tack on six runs to defeat the Genesee Rapids, 9-3, in New York Collegiate Baseball League action at the Kerr-Pegula Athletic Complex, Wednesday night.
It was a cold night, but the Dodgers took care of business right away. In their first opportunity at the plate the Dodgers recorded two singles – one from Jack Trotman (St. John Fisher) and one from Andy Brahier (Wisconsin Oskkosh) plating Trotman making the score 1-0 before the side retired.
In the top of the second the Dodgers continued to pour it on, scoring two more runs on three hits recorded by Mike Wick (Webster), Joseph Cerda (Oklahoma Panhandle), and Trotman to enter the bottom of the second with a 3-0 spread.
The Rapids responded when Mark McKenna (Canisius) scored on an error making it a 3-1 game at end the second inning.
Ned Monthie (Houghton) started and pitched six strong Hornell. He held the Rapids to one run on four hits while retiring the side three out of six innings pitched. He struck out six and left with the lead.
“I fell behind some batters a little bit early on but as the game progressed I was able to find a better rhythm and use my curveball more effectively,” Monthie said. “It was a close game the whole night but thankfully was able to get out of a couple jams with some great defense behind me and a couple of key strikeouts.”
There would be four consecutive scoreless innings.
“Ned really found his groove in those scoreless innings,” Hornell coach Jake Kenney said. “He worked his way out of potential scoring opportunities for them (Rapids) and kept the lead for us.”
The bats of the Rapids were warmed up by the time the bottom of the eighth came around. Peter Bocchino (Bentley) advanced to first after getting hit by a pitch, Daniel Lockwood (St. Edwards) moves Bocchino on a single to left field. Grant Myers (Monmouth Coll) stepped to the plate and hit the first pitch thrown to him deep between the right and center fielder for a triple scoring both Bocchino and Lockwood tying the score 3-3.
The Dodgers quickly halted the momentum shift in their final attempt at the plate. It was almost like déjà vu from the previous match-up between these two teams. The Dodgers scored six runs on six hits with two base clearing triples from Cerda and Trotman for one RBI a piece.
“I was just looking to put the ball in play to give us some insurance heading into the ninth,” Cerda said.
Also recorded in the ninth was an RBI double from Dylan May (Wofford), and an RBI single from Brahier to make the score 9-3.
“This is the second night in a row that we’ve poured it on very late in the game. These guys just never quit at the plate.” added Kenney. “Their starter (Bo Gilligan, Rowan) did a nice job but we took advantage of one defensive mistake and then strung together a couple hits and the next thing you knew was we had six on the board.”
Jake Miller (Lackawanna) came out of the bullpen and pitched tow innings for Hornell. Victor Paiva (Dean) tossed a scoreless ninth.
Multiple hits were recorded for the Rapids from Judah Wollenburg going 3-for-3 on the night.
The Dodgers will look to continue their two game streak tomorrow night as they take on the Wellsville Nitros at 7 p.m.
Genesee is slated for a 7p.m. start against the Rochester Ridgemen on Friday at the Kerr-Pegula Athletic Complex.
Leave a Reply