Y-D secured its first win at Red Wilson Field since July Fourth in convincing fashion on Tuesday, as the team exploded for six runs in the eighth inning on its way to a 10-3 victory against Falmouth.
Clay Hendry (North Florida) set the tone on the mound for Y-D by tossing a 1-2-3 first inning with a flyout and a couple of groundouts. On the other side, Joe Sabbath (University of Rhode Island) toed the rubber to make his first start of the summer for Falmouth. Sabbath had allowed just one earned run in 13 innings out of the bullpen entering the start, and the only run that he had surrendered came against Y-D on June 22.
Y-D remained the only team to get the better of Sabbath this season when Chris Hacopian (Texas A&M) jumped on a first-pitch fastball and crushed it over the center field fence for a homer to give Y-D a 1-0 lead in the first inning. The long ball was Hacopian’s second of the season and first since June 21 against Brewster.
Following another scoreless inning from Hendry, the Y-D offense stayed hot in the second inning against Sabbath. Yomar Carreras (Rutgers) started the inning by lining a breaking ball into right field for a single, and Brayden Dowd (Florida State) followed that up with a liner into center field to put runners at the corners with no outs.
Sabbath was an out away from escaping the jam unscathed, but A.J. Nessler (Pittsburgh) made him pay by grounding a 92 mph fastball past the second baseman for a two-run single to put Y-D ahead, 3-0.
“I think especially at home, it’s good to get an early lead and then just feed off that momentum,” Dowd said. “To be able to come out and jump on a pitcher like that, especially after a day off, is really cool to see.”
After retiring the first two hitters of the third inning, Hendry ran into trouble for the first time when he allowed a single to Maika Niu (Marshall) and a walk to Carl Schmidt (California). Kent Schmidt (Georgia Tech) was able to cash in the opportunity for Falmouth by lining a breaking ball into right field for a run-scoring single to cut Y-D’s lead to 3-1.
Y-D got that run right back in the bottom half of the third inning, as Jack Arcamone (Georgia) collected his second hit of the day and came in to score with two outs on a throwing error by Ryan Zuckerman (Georgia Tech) at third base.
With one out in the fifth inning, Josh Landry (Hope International University) entered the game for Y-D after 4 1/3 innings pitched by Hendry with only one run allowed. The last six outs of Hendry’s outing all came by way of the strikeout after he recorded zero punchouts in the first 2 1/3 innings.
The Falmouth bullpen held the Y-D offense in check after the fast start, with Jackson Vanesko (Bryant) allowing zero earned runs in three innings and Patrick Rogan (Sacred Heart) tossing two hitless frames. Rogan turned heads for other reasons aside from his strong outing, as he is an extremely rare switch-pitcher.
Landry was dominant coming out of the Y-D bullpen, retiring eight consecutive hitters with four strikeouts to keep Y-D’s lead at 4-1.
“It’s awesome as an offense knowing that you really don’t have to feel like you have to score too many runs,” Dowd said. “[Hendry and Landry] are just really good strike-throwers. … That’s a huge part of this league: being able to go out there, throw strikes and command the zone.”
The Commodores were finally able to spark a rally against Landry in the eighth inning when a double from Kent Schmidt and a couple of walks loaded the bases with one out. Antonio Morales (Wake Forest) scorched a first-pitch breaking ball to right field for a two-run single to make it a one-run ballgame all of a sudden. After Landry got Justin Osterhouse (Purdue-Fort Wayne) to chase a slider for the second out, Alex Overbay (Nevada-Las Vegas) entered the game for Y-D to face Chris Newstrom (Tennessee) with runners at second and third.
Newstrom gave the ball a ride, but Will Baker (Georgia Tech) drifted back in deep right field to make the play and maintain Y-D’s 4-3 lead.
Armando Briseño (Cal State Fullerton) led off the bottom of the eighth inning by driving a fastball from Grant Meert (Johns Hopkins) to the wall in right field for a double. With runners at the corners and one out, Dowd laid down a perfectly placed bunt for a run-scoring hit to give Y-D a huge insurance run.
Y-D kept adding on during the inning, as Nessler collected his second two-run single of the day to put Y-D ahead, 7-3. Thomas McAndrews (Fordham) capped off the six-run frame by hitting a blooper down the right field line for a two-run hit in his first at-bat as a member of Y-D.
In just his second career pitching appearance, Dean Carpentier (USC) slammed the door on the 10-3 win by racking up two strikeouts in a scoreless ninth inning to snap Y-D’s eight-game home winless streak. With the victory and a Harwich loss on Tuesday, Y-D is once again just two points back of the East Division lead.
“Obviously it’s a very close race right now in the division, and when you’re at home, you feel like you should win every game,” Dowd said. “We love this place and playing in front of our home crowd. They deserve to get a couple more wins than what we’ve given them, but it’s awesome to get a win at home.”
Y-D will look to ride this momentum when it travels to face Orleans at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
