By MIKAEL DeSANTO
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Another cold and windy night in near the shores of Lake Ontario didn’t stop Ethan Luna (Southwestern University) from going 2-for-5, driving in three runs to help the Rochester Ridgemen beat the Hornell Dodgers 8-5 in their latest New York Collegiate Baseball League matchup Sunday night at Basket Road Field. The win brings the Ridgemen’s record to 4-7, sitting in third place in the Western Division while the Dodgers fall to 8-5, resting in second place in the division.
“Recently, I’ve just been working on ‘see ball, hit ball’,” Luna said. “The first at bat, unfortunately, I got into a 3-2 count so I was having to battle, but after that it was really whatever looked good, I was swinging and hacking.”
Justin Dillard, the Ridgemen’s head coach, said he was happy with the performance, particularly coming off of Saturday night’s 10-5 loss to the Olean Oilers.
“It was awesome to see them do that because I felt like it was in a response to last night,” Dillard said. “To see our offense, top to bottom, come out and do what they’re capable of doing, and passing on at bats to each other, and playing more of a team style offense.”
The starter for the Ridgemen was Luke Chevalier (Northern State University), and the Dodgers countered with Garrett Alread (Houghton College), each making his third start of the season. Both starters experienced control issues early in the game, allowing the opposing team to strike early runs. Chevalier opened the game by walking Joseph Cerda (Oklahoma Panhandle State University) and Jack Trotman (St. John Fisher College), followed by a Tanner Klein (Mansfield University) single to load the bases.
“We all want to get out there and throw 90 miles-per-hour, but sometimes we just don’t have it that day,” Chevalier said. “Today was not one of those days where I’m going to be throwing my hardest, so I was just trying to use whatever I could to stay crafty and get it into the zone.”
VIEW MORE SUE KANE PHOTOS HERE.
Andy Brahier (University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh) capitalized on the loaded bases, picking up a two-run single to put the Dodgers on the board, though Klein was thrown out at third. After another walk by Chevalier, the Dodgers added another run on a Mike Wick (Webster University) single, his first of four hits on the game.
“I was trying to send a single somewhere, not try to do too much,” Brahier said. “He threw me an up and inside fastball, I think it was, so I just sent it over to left.”
However, Already did not hold the lead as control issues helped the Ridgemen strike back to tie the game over the first two innings. He opened his half of the first with a strikeout, but then hit Bram Wood (Olney Central College) and surrendered a double to Nathan Methvin (Tyler Junior College). Luna drove in Wood and moved Methvin to third with a sacrifice ground ball to give the Ridgemen their first run. Methvin scored on a passed ball.
In the bottom of the second the Ridgemen were able to take further advantage of Already’s issues as he walked Jared Piper (Hillsdale College), gave up a single to Jacob Lentz (Highland Community College) and Hayden Houts (Northern State University) reached on an error. Alread walked Wood, allowing Piper to score and tie the game at three.
“I think it’s just a bit form that I’m going to have to hammer out,” Alread said. “Occasionally it’s not your day, but you are never going to win a game walking eight, nine guys, so it’s definitely something I’m going to need to work on in the future and it’s something that my team is going to be able to help me with.”
Anthony Santoro (Monroe Community College) tripled in the top of the fifth inning scoring Wick and giving the Dodgers the lead back. But in the bottom of the inning Luna tied the game again, doubling in Methvin, who had walked. The Ridgemen grabbed the lead the following inning when Lentz and Houts each worked walks, and then Wood doubled them both in. Luna would follow by adding another run, his final RBI of the game, driving in Wood and giving the Ridgemen a 7-4 lead.
“The past few days I’ve been struggling a little bit, not being very aggressive,” Wood said. “Once I got up there I was like, ‘you know what, one pitch, one spot, be aggressive and just put a good swing on it’, I got in the box, luckily he threw that first pitch fastball, and I jumped on it.”
The Ridgemen added an insurance run in the seventh on a Houts single, making it 8-4. The Dodgers threatened in the ninth, loading the bases with no outs, but only mustered one run on a Santoro single, with the final out coming when Cerda grounded out to second. The Dodger’s head coach Jake Kenney said that the issues with control were the undoing of the team.
“We walked nine batters, that was pretty much the tipping point in the game,” Kenney said. “We scored early, got in a bit of a lull, but five runs, we should be in that game.”
Despite the win, the Ridgemen staff continues to struggle to find the zone and Dillard said he knows why they are still having problems.
“They are used to playing weekend series, they may throw a lot of pitches but then they have a whole week rest,” Dillard said. “These guys are on a four day rotation, they’re throwing less pitches more frequently, so their arms are getting used to a whole other routine.”
John Ricotta (Monroe Community College) went 1-for-3 with two walks for the Dodgers.
Jade Doyle (Ancilla College) got the win for the Ridgemen, going three innings with two hits, one run and four walks.
Jake Miller (Lackawanna College) pitched three innings and giving up two runs and six hits, with one walk and one strikeout in relief of Alread.
Joseph Done (Skagit Valley College), who started at catcher, pitched one inning, walking two but with no runs or hits, earning him the save.
Devan O’Bryan (Drury University) came in as a defensive sub at catcher when Done became the pitcher, making his season debut.
Leave a Reply