After a tough loss on an unusually hot Tuesday afternoon at Benicia, the Dons were back at Ken Souza field for a rematch against the formidable Panthers team. With the weather being a lot cooler, the Dons were looking to get their hitting mojo back, and with Jack Giorgianni starting, an ace on a pitching staff full of aces, all of the conditions were there for the Dons to get back to their winning ways. Baseball is baseball though, and things don’t always go as planned, and that’s where the team’s depth and intestinal fortitude came into play. Jack started off strong, pitching two clean innings, but had to step off with no outs in the top of the 3rd due to injury. Peter Thorn stepped in on a very short notice to perform as a loooong reliever. In a gutsy showing, the Dons demonstrated yet again why they are one of the top teams in the league.
Facing a hard-throwing Panthers starter who featured a sizzling fastball and a nasty slider, the Dons tried to get something going in the 1st when James Stadt legged out a high chopper to 3B, and Everett Glass followed with a walk, but both ended up stranded. In the 2nd, the Dons showed exceptional plate discipline, and manufactured a proper jam: with 1 out, Jake Boselli walked, Aidan Yates launched a long fly ball single to the left, and Brady Quinn followed with another walk to load ‘em up. Keagan Goddard calmly took 4 pitches for an RBI walk, and James Stadt got beaned to force another run in. However, after a protracted mound conference the Panthers pitcher started throwing strikes again, and managed to escape further damage in the inning. Benicia came right back with two runs of their own in top 3rd, taking advantage of the Dons unscheduled pitching change, and the rest of the game was as tense as such things get. Both pitchers were dealing, and both defenses were making plays to keep the game tied, and while neither offense was dominant, the Dons made the clutch plays. In the 4th, with one down, Keagan and James hit back-to-back singles. Everett Glass stepped to the plate with runners on the corners, got into an 0-2 hole, worked the count back to 3-2, and then launched an absolute screamer down the 3B line for what should have been a 2-RBI double. However, the ball was hit so hard that it bounced all the way down the line, into foul territory, and off the field. After a long discussion, a ground rule double was declared, with only one run scoring on the play. The ruling proved costly, as the Dons were unable to score any more runs in the inning. Nursing a single run lead, the Dons dug in their hills and made it stand. The Panthers threatened in top 5th with a one-out double, but the lead runner was tagged out on a fielder’s choice, and yet another fly out (in a game that featured loads of them) ended the inning. Peter’s pitching only got stronger as the game went on, and the only base runners the Panthers were able to manufacture in the last two innings were 2 ROE’s. With a base runner on 2nd and two down in the 7th, Peter coolly elicited a grounder to 2B, and it was over. Dons 3, Panthers 2.
The Dons offensive output was a definite improvement over the previous game, although still fairly pedestrian, with 3 runs on 6 hits. While it ended up being enough, the Dons should have scored more — 9 base runners were left stranded. James went 2-3 with an RBI, Keagan had a hit, a run, an RBI, and a walk, Everett hit the game-winning RBI double and tacked on a walk, Jake Boselli had a hit, a run, and a walk, and Aidan Yates had a hit and a run.
The Dons’ pitching was outstanding, as usual. In an abbreviated start, Jack ended up charged for a single run over 2 innings, on one hit and one walk, with one strikeout. Peter Thorn turned in a brilliant performance in 5 innings of emergency relief, scattering 3 hits and walking no one, and was charged for 1 run. The 3 fielding errors ended up not costing the Dons any runs, for a change, and there were several web gems that made up for it. James turned an unassisted double play in the 1st, and Keagan tracked down 4 troublesome fly balls in center field, highlighted by a diving catch that was so unbelievable that it took several minutes of review to affirm.
The last week of JV baseball is upon us, with the Dons starting the last series of the season next Tuesday when they travel to Clayton Valley Charter.
