sfoggi posted on July 23, 2011 21:20
WINTER PARK, Fla. (July 23, 2011) – The Sanford River Rats fell 6-2 to the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs at Alfond Stadium Saturday night.
The Rats were able to scatter seven hits and take one walk, but were unable to capitalize.
“I feel like we were able to put together some innings here and there but just weren’t able to string enough together in consecutive innings which makes it a little bit tougher to score,” River Rats Head Coach Stephen Piercefield said. “Their pitching staff did a good job of not allowing the leadoff guy to get on base, but when we had chances we did a pretty good job of cashing in.”
Bennie Sanchez (SCAD) had a rough start, allowing three straight singles to load the bases with one out in the first inning, but quickly clamped down and induced a fly out and a 4-6 grounder to escape with no runners scoring.
“He’s a guy who can pitch himself into trouble and then finds a way to get himself out of trouble. He did a good job of not letting things build up, focused on the task at hand, and took it one hitter at a time,” Piercefield said.
Winter Park (20-8-1) drew first blood in the bottom of the second. After Michael Reed (Auburn University) hit a triple, it was easy enough for Ted Blackman (Coastal Carolina) to hit a single to score Reed.
Sanford (10-20-1) tied it up in the top of the fourth with an Austin Liput (USC Upstate) single followed by a Ryan Woodrey (Nova Southeastern) double to plate Liput.
The Diamond Dawgs pulled away in the fifth as Blackman, Dustin Demuth (Indiana University), and Austin Chubb (Florida Southern) all scored runs to make it a 4-1 game.
The River Rats scored one more run in the seventh. Ian MacGeorge (Embry-Riddle) singled with two outs before stealing second. Johnny Mazur (Florida Tech) singled to send MacGeorge home and cut the lead to 4-2. MacGeorge was able to reach third on a steal and a catcher’s error, but the Rats could not capitalize.
“Baseball’s a game of ups and downs and the team that’s able to stay even keel through the whole game usually has a pretty good chance,” Piercefield said.
Winter Park kept their even keel into their half of the seventh as Chubb and Brad Hutton (Ohio State) drew back-to-back walks. Patrick McGavin (Alabama) singled to score Chubb and Alex Cruz (Georgia Tech) hit a double that sent Hutton home to make it a 6-2 game.
“We have one week left in the season, so there’s nothing extra I can say to these guys. They don’t need extra motivation from me. They come out expecting to win every day and will put forth their best effort the rest of the season just as they have all summer,” added Piercefield.
The River Rats have had two home games added to the schedule. The first will be played Sunday at Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium against the Winter Haven Loggerheads (11-19). First pitch is slated for 5 p.m. The second game is set for Monday against the Orlando Freedom (11-20).
Neil Tredray (Valencia College)