By MIKAEL DeSANTO
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Connor Brandon (Concordia University Chicago) went 3-for-5 with two runs batted in, two runs scored and one walk to help the Hornell Dodgers defeat the Rochester Ridgemen 12-10 in New Collegiate Baseball League action Tuesday at Basket Road Field.
“I was just trying to bring in runs, I was put in the three hole to bring in runs, so I was just trying to do my job” Brandon said. “I was seeing fastballs really well and I was just able to sit back and drive them.”
Jake Kenney, the Dodgers’ head coach, said that the game may have been a tough one, but it is important that the team was able to come together and get the win.
“Never apologize for a win, it wasn’t pretty, but it was a good response off of yesterday’s game (an 11-7 Ridgemen win over the Dodgers),” Kenney said. “We needed to come up here and answer back, and we did a good job of doing that.”
The pitching matchup pitted Brian Feinauer (Saginaw Valley State) for the Dodgers against Matt Fontneau (Colorado Christian University) for the Ridgemen. Feinauer made his sixth start of the season, throwing five innings and giving up two runs on five hits and five walks with six strikeouts, and Fontneau, making his fourth start of the year, pitched five and two-thirds innings surrendering fives runs (two earned) on five hits, one walk and three strikeouts.
Fontneau said he was happy with his performance, focusing on challenging hitters and not trying to work around the plate too much.
“I thought the start went well, (I) attacked early, got some quick outs, worked in-out, up-down and was able to keep them guessing,” Fontneau said. “Fatigue sent in a little bit in the later innings and they were able to scratch a few across, but I feel like it was a decent start.”
Feinauer said he wasn’t happy with his performance, saying he could have been better and early struggles threw him off his game.
“I didn’t think I had my best stuff tonight, (I) kind of feel like I let the team down, but it’s one of those nights, you just kind of battle through it,” Feinauer said. “I just didn’t think I located my fastball on the outside half, I got behind and it forced me to throw a lot more fastballs than I had planned on.”
The Ridgemen opened the scoring in the first when Joe Done (Skagit Valley College) drove in Bram Wood (Olney Central College) with a sacrifice grounder. However, in the fourth inning, the Dodgers would answer, scoring two runs on a Tanner Klein (Mansfield University) single to score Jack Trotman (St. John Fisher College) and a fielder’s choice which scored Brandon. In the bottom of the inning the Ridgemen tied in the game when Danny Molinari (De Anza College) attempted to steal second, allowing Brooks Pitaniello (Harding University) to score from third on after the throw.
The Dodgers took the lead in the fifth inning when Ty Reginelli (Wofford College) scored on a wild pitch. In the sixth and seventh innings they added insurance runs, first when Tyler Burns (Trevecca Nazarene University) and former-Ridgemen Tage Johnson (Houghton College) scored on an error in the sixth, and then in the seventh when Brandon tripled home Trotman, Andy Brahier (University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh) singled home Brandon and Anthony Santoro (Monroe Community College) singled to score Klein.
“I’ve been sort of pulling off of it, pulling balls lately,” Brahier said. “I was just trying to see the ball deep, let it travel, go the other way and I did that twice.”
Another run scored for the Dodgers in the top of the eighth when Brandon singled to drive in Zach Lopatka (Lackawanna College). The Ridgemen added a couple runs in response in the bottom half of the inning, with Wood drawing a walk to score Molinari and Jared Piper (Hillsdale College) advancing home on a wild pitch, cutting the Dodgers lead to 9-4.
“They wee very consistent in their approach to all hitters,” Wood said. “You knew what to look for in a lot of situations, so that helped, but it was just making sure you got that right pitch and working with it from there.”
The Dodgers struck back in the ninth, plating another three runs on a single by Lopatka to score Burns, Johnson scoring on an error and then Brahier walking to score Lopatka. But the Ridgemen began a comeback in the bottom of the ninth, starting by loading the bases and Piper walking to score Hayden Houts (Northern State University). Devin Cerrato (Covenant College) followed with a two-run double, scoring Pitaniello and Molinari, and after the bases became loaded again, Done cleared the bases with a triple to drive in Piper, Cerrato and Casey Claflin (University of Northwestern Ohio). However the comeback fell short, as Houts, who had led off the inning, flew out to deep right-center to end the game.
“I was like ‘alright Joe, don’t do too much, alright, just take what he gives you’,” Done said. “I ended up battling there, he left me one right over the little outside half of the plate, I was like ‘alright I’ll take that to right field’ and it ended up working out, somehow I made it to third base.”
Ridgemen coach Hunter Bingham said the errors (6 total) which led to runs come down tO each individual that made the error and each person’s fielding issues need to be solved in different ways.
“Baseball’s a tough game where your personality really comes out in the game, so the ways you struggle are different than other guys,” Bingham said. “For some guys we just need to get more reps, some guys are playing out of position, so they just need a little more help, some guys it’s mental, some guys it’s a thing of trying too hard, some guys it’s a thing of not being locked in, so every guys a little bit different and we are just trying to figure that out.”
The win brought the Dodgers to a 13-14 record, good for second in the Western Division while the Ridgemen fell to 6-19 and last in the division.
Matt Diekemper (Drury University) pitched two and one-third innings in relief for the Ridgemen, giving up four runs (one unearned) on five hits, one walk and three strikeouts.
Jake Miller (Lackawanna College) threw two innings for the Dodgers, allowing no runs and three hits with one walk and one strikeout.
Cerrato came in to relieve Diekemper, pitching one inning and giving up three runs (two unearned) on two hits, three walks and one strikeout.
Victor Paiva (Dean College) pitched one and two-thirds innings for the Dodgers, surrendering eight runs (four earned) on two hits, seven walks with four strikeouts.
The Ridgemen will play against the Wellsville Nitros at 7 p.m. on June 29 at Basket Road Field.
The Dodgers next game will be on June 29 at 7 p.m. against the Genesee Rapids at Maple City Park.
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