By MIKE DeSANTO
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Junior Jack Brett (Wilamette University) delivered a grand slam in the top of the seventh inning, helping the Hornell Dodgers to a 9-6 win over the Rochester Ridgemen in New York Collegiate Baseball League action Saturday night at Basket Road Field.
With the bases loaded for the Dodgers, thanks to a triple to right field for sophomore Ethan Harrison (Trevecca Nazarene University) and walks to sophomore Michael Young (University of Massachusetts-Lowell) and freshman Jared Kapturasky (Mercyhurst College), Brett stepped to the plate. Facing a one-out, 1-1 count situation, Brett crushed the ball into deep center field and over the 408 foot sign for a grand slam, plating four runs.
“I knew he was just trying to get ahead, trying to, with one out, get me into a double play,” Brett said. “I was just looking for a pitch and I put a good wing on it.”
The Dodgers benefitted from an approach of patience at the plate, working eight walks against Ridgemen pitching. Five of those walks led to the players scoring runs later in the inning.
“We work all the time on picking out our zone and trying to attack our pitches instead of going after the pitchers’ pitches,” Dodgers’ head coach CJ Baker said. “Our guys have gotten really good as the year has progressed on being really good inside their zone and adjusting to it.”
The Ridgemen kicked off the scoring in the second inning, taking a 1-0 lead early. Junior Joshua Parks led off the inning with a single to centerfield, advancing to second on a throwing error on a pickoff attempt and third on fly out to right. Sophomore Seth Hagan (Centre College) took advantage of the opportunity, knocking the first pitch of his at bat into center to drive in the run.
“Before the game, I was just focusing on timing and getting a little rhythm in my swing,” Hagan said. “I just tried to carry that into tonight. I used a new bat tonight, so that might help. Other than that, just letting the ball get deep and just getting my hands to the ball.”
In the third, the Ridgemen added another run after loading the bases. Junior Connor Dunn (University of Puget Sound) opened with a walk, with senior Casey Claflin (Shawnee State University) also walking and Parks singling to right. A wild pitch during the next at bat allowed Dunn to race home and put the Ridgemen up 2-0.
However, the Dodgers would finally answer in the fifth, pushing across four runs to take the lead. Leadoff hitter junior Andrew McCoy (Benedict College) walked to start, stealing second, moving to third when the throw rolled into center and scoring after the centerfielder also threw it away.
Harrison and Young also worked walks, with Harrison scoring on a groundout to the third baseman after a collision at first base caused the ball to be jarred lose after the out. Junior Connor Bailey (Willamette University) then tripled home Young, coming in to score on a wild pitch.
“Early on in the game, they were giving me a lot of off-speed pitches,” Bailey said. “I saw him shake off one, so I kind of had a feeling a fastball was coming. I didn’t miss it and put a good swing on it the other way.”
The Dodgers padded their lead in the seventh inning, including Brett’s grand slam. But, the grand slam was not the end of the run scoring, as they would plate one more run. That run came when junior Erich (Max) Werner (Seattle University) came to the plate with two outs. Werner proceeded to hit a two strike into centerfield, getting past the sliding centerfielder and rolling to the wall, allowing Werner to sprint home for an inside-the-park home run.
The Ridgemen added one run in the seventh, starting with a hit by a pitch to freshman Trevor Cho (St. Cloud State University) and a single to left for Claflin. Senior Ethan Luna (Southwestern University) followed with a single to left of his own, bringing in Cho.
Hagan contributed an RBI double in the eighth, driving in senior Christian Bitar (Regis University), who had previously walked and moved to second on a wild pitch.
They also made a push in the ninth, scoring two runs. Claflin doubled to right field and went to third on a wild pitch. Parks walked, heading to second as Claflin scored on another wild pitch. Bitar and Hagan then drew walks to load the bases, allowing an ensuing wild pitch to plate Parks.
But the comeback fell short, and the Dodgers secured the win.
Baker said the team kept working and pushed its way to the win.
“It was a really good performance all around,” Baker said. “Their lefty threw a really good first half of the game against us. Our guys had an approach towards him, we stuck to it and ended up getting some good, clutch hits there towards the end.”
Ridgemen head coach Justin Dillard said it wasn’t a bad game for the team, but it wasn’t up to the level they need to be.
“They did ok. A lot of their runs that they ended up scoring were walks,” Dillard said. “The theme of frustration when we give away walks that turn into runs. But they competed and they stayed in the game. They never gave up at the plate and kept chipping away.”
The Dodgers moved to 23-8 on the season while the Ridgemen fell to 7-22.
The Ridgemen’s next game will be Sunday at 5 p.m. as they host the Sherrill Silversmiths.
The Dodgers’ will play at home Sunday at 5 p.m. against the Cortland Crush.
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