Red Wings Sweep Double Header
Geneva snapped out of a five game losing streak in a big way- sweeping the double header against the Webster Yankees.
Brantley Miller’s walk off single gave the Red Wings a 4-3 win in game one and then Kevin Dooley’s complete game led Geneva to a 2-1 game two win.
Both games were scheduled for seven innings, but it would take the Red Wings nine to win game one.
Geneva starter Ryan Fennel struggled with command early in game one, but was able to battle through it to allow just one run on five hits over 5 innings. That run came home in the second inning when Fennel walked Wes Winkle with the bases loaded.
The score remained 1-0 until the bottom of the 5th, when the Red Wings finally solved Yankee starter GC Yerry. Cory Betterson walked for the second time in the ball game to lead things off. Kyle Kalaka singled with one out to put runners on the corners and then Adam Stacy was hit by a pitch to load the bases. With two outs and the bases loaded, Brantley Miller ripped a single to left driving in Betterson and Kalaka to give the Red Wings a 2-1 lead.
Webster came right back in the top of the 6th. Matt Delewski led off with a single, Matt Francis reached on an error, and Matt Boulter singled in Delewski to knot things up at 2. With two outs, and Boulter standing on third, catcher Ollie Bertrand ripped a single to left center field scoring Boulter and giving the Yankees a 3-2 lead.
It stayed that way until the seventh when Betterson walked for the third time against Yerry. He then tied up the game with his legs stealing second, advancing to third on an errant throw by Bertrand and scoring on an overthrow by center fielder Tyler Grogg. With the game knotted up the Wings were looking for the win. Geneva loaded the bases with nobody out, but Webster closer Tim Johnson got three straight outs to send the game to extra innings.
After the teams traded zero’s in the eighth, Max Casper got himself in scoring position with one out and Brantley Miller digging in. Miller drove a 1-0 fastball through the hole between short and third and Casper beat the throw home for the win.
“It felt good to finally help out our pitchers,” said Miller. “It’s a huge momentum swing for us to get out of the L column.”
So game one belonged to the Red Wings bats, but game two was all about Geneva starter Kevin Dooley. The lefty out of the University of Pittsburgh saw an opportunity to keep Webster down and came out throwing strikes. “We had a lot of momentum because of that game one win. I could see (Webster) was down from the start.”
Throughout the game Dooley worked quickly mixing his fastball and cutter and inducing 14 ground ball outs. Dooley said when he gets ground balls it’s always a good sign. “It means I’m working down. I always try and get my defense the ball. That means they’ll work with me.”
Dooley allowed just one run, when Delewski scored on a Wexler groundball in the 6th.
While Dooley was cruising, the Red Wings offense picked up just enough runs. Matt Ray drove in Dan Gliot with a single to right in the first and Paul Moreno brought Gliot home again in the third when he was plunked with the bases loaded.
The rest was up to Dooley who took the mound in the 7th and final inning and fittingly retired the side on three straight ground balls to give the Red Wings a 2-1 victory.
The two game sweep improves the Red Wings to 11-14 and Manager Dave Herbst said going into the all star break these wins were huge for team morale. “The guys are excited to get back Tuesday. It was an important series for us.”