Red Wings Win Pitchers’ Duel
The Red Wings managed just three hits and one unearned run, but Kevin Dooley led Geneva to a 1-0 win over the visiting Hornell Dodgers at McDonough Park.
Dooley was great throughout the night holding Hornell to just three hits through seven and a third innings while striking out eight Dodgers. “My changeup was really working today,” Dooley said. “That’s how I got a lot of my strikeouts.”
On the other side, Blake Gallagher threw a gem in his own right. He tossed 8 strong innings allowing just three hits and one unearned run.
That unearned run came all the way back in the third inning, when defensive miscues came back to haunt Hornell. Brantley Miller got things going with a one out single and Dan Gliot reached on a bunt single down the line. Gallagher walked Marcus Way to load the bases, but then got Kevin Stephens to fly out to shallow left, bringing Andy Mix to the plate with two outs. Mix rolled a slow grounder to short, but Raymond Fuentes throw pulled first baseman Joe Lombardi off the bag and allowed Miller to score.
After that Gallagher was almost perfect, striking out 8 Red Wing batters and retiring the last 14 batters he faced. “He seemed to get stronger as the game went on,” said Geneva manager Dave Herbst.
But while Gallagher was cruising on one side, the Dodger offense missed opportunities on the other. Hornell loaded the bags in the third, before Dooley induced three hole hitter Tony Micklon to ground into an inning ending double play. Again Hornell had runners on the corners in the 5th, but this time Dooley struck out Micklon to end that threat. In the 7th Dooley got Derek Speaker swinging with two outs and a runner on third to end that threat. Finally in the 8th, after Dooley had given way to reliever Greg Blanco , Joe Lombardi lined into a double play and with runners on first and second to end the threat. “I was just confident in my pitches and wanted to make Hornell put the ball in play,” said Dooley. “My fielders helped me out today.”
The defense came up with one more defensive jam in the ninth. With closer Ryan Kassab on the mound, one out, and Nate Chong on first, Dane Frazier grounded into a 1-6-3 double play to end the game.
This game was huge for the Red Wings who now sit a half game behind Alfred for the final playoff spot in the West division. “It was a great way to start a home stretch,” said Herbst.