After a string of close games that were notable for great pitching and defense, and a paucity of base hits, the JV Dons got back to their early-season hard-hitting form on a cross-town visit to the Miramonte Matadors. This game was pretty much the opposite of the previous one, with both teams getting into double digits on base hits, and defenses falling well short of air-tight. The Dons were much more efficient in stringing the hits together though, and the game wasn’t really as close as the final score suggests. In another departure from their recent habits, the Dons took no time to get going. Top 1st started ominously with Keagan Goddard hitting an emphatic double to the left, and scoring on a string of passed balls, giving a glimpse of what was to come. Still in the 1st, Mason walked, and again scored on a passed ball, Sully Bailey got beaned and scored on Wyatt Cooper’s long line drive double over the 3B bag. Matadors came right back with a couple of runs of their own in the bottom 1st, however. The Matadors had to bring in a new pitcher in the 2nd, and following that the game settled down for a time, with no score in 2nd and 3rd. In the 4th, Jake Boselli reached on a fielder’s choice, and ran the bases hard, scoring on a bad throw to 3rd. Dons had several opportunities to pile on more runs, but base running miscues cost them. It was still a close 4-2 game in the 6th, but Dons took care of that by batting around. Aleksey Volobuev got the party started with a sharp single to the left, Aidan Yates reached 1st when the fielder couldn’t handle a soft roller down the 1B line, and then Jake Boselli scored Aleksey by smashing a massive double to the LF gap, and Aidan came across on a sac fly from James Stadt. With the bases empty and two outs, the Matadors were hoping to get out of the inning with limited damage, but that was not in the cards. Everett Glass snagged a walk after being way down in the count, swiped 2nd without a throw, Mason Zirkel hit a laser grounder down the line past the diving 1B’s glove, scoring Jake and Everett, and then Sully put a huge exclamation mark on the inning by hitting a monster fly ball to the right over everyone’s head that almost bounced into the opposite field’s infield, for a stand-up RBI triple. The game seemed close to getting out of hand, but the Matadors kept on fighting, and the Dons’ defense relaxed, allowing 3 runs in the bottom 6th. Scoring an insurance run on Everett Glass’ single in the top 7th very much welcome. Several Dons hitters enjoyed a good day at the plate: Everett went 3-4 with an RBI and a run, Mason was 2-4, with 2 RBI and 2 R, Keagan had 2 H, 1 R, Sully had a triple, a run, and an RBI, Wyatt had a double and an RBI, Aleksey had a hit and a run, Aidan scored twice, and Jake Boselli was 1-2, 2 R, and an RBI.
Peter Thorn started on the hill for the Dons, and after a shaky 1st inning settled down and pitched well, blanking the Matadors in innings 2-5. Peter ended up pitching 5 and 2/3 innings, and was charged with 5 runs (4 earned), on 10 hits and 3 walks, with 3 strikeouts. The Matadors were able to put runners on bases, but Peter was consistently able to elicit a timely groundball or fly-out to strand the runners (to the tune of 12 LOB). Brady Quinn came out in relief in the 5th, and while this wasn’t a save situation Brady did what closers do: slamming the door, pitching 1 1/3 innings, getting charged for a single hit, no runs, and no walks. The Dons’ defense wasn’t as stellar as usual, but still made many great plays, highlighted by a classic 6-4-3 double play in the 3rd to erase a lead-off single.
The Dons will be hosting the Matadors for the return leg of the series at home on Wednesday (the game was rescheduled from Thursday due to the rain in the forecast).
