By Vinny Amodeo
It’s not often that Jonathon Mulford is outdueled by an opposing hurler. Damian Powers, junior for LeMoyne did just that today at William J. Bonomo Field.
He threw a complete game, surrendering nine hits in the Dolphins 6-3 victory, while blanking the Panthers for the final five innings.
The Dolphins offense started early this afternoon as the first two batters reached base with singles. Mulford, senior pitcher on Adelphi, surrendered both runners on base as he got the next batter to ground into a double play and the following one to strikeout.
After the Dolphins went down in order in the top of the second, Kory Cassara broke open the scoring with a solo home run over the left field wall. This lead would be short lived as it was wiped away within minutes. The third inning began a string of two straight innings featuring crooked numbers for LeMoyne on the scoreboard.
With back-to-back hits for the Dolphins and a run on a throwing error by the right fielder, Le Moyne tied the game up after just two batters in the inning. Following the error were another pair of hits and run as the lead was grabbed fairly quickly. The fourth inning strolled to the same beat as LeMoyne strung together four straight runners on base before a call from the umpire would keep the inning alive.
Mike Stack, shortstop for the Panthers, turned a 360 degree spin double play on a flip from Zack Levinson until the umpire called the runner safe at second due to Stack missing the bag. This lead to a sac fly and the third run of the inning, stretching the Dolphins lead to four by a score of 5-1.
The bottom half of this inning would be the final inning in which the Panthers would make noise offensively as a two RBI single from Alex Zykoff would cut LeMoyne’s lead in half.
“It goes without saying that any game we need to supply runs for the pitcher but a day that our ace is off, calls for obviously more run production,” said senior Alex Zykoff. “This brings the little things into play and every move is crucial. My personal approach doesn’t change, you can’t press and try to do too much. I still go up to the plate with a clear head and ready to deal with the job at hand, whatever it may be.”
The top of the seventh was the last inning of scoring for the Dolphins as they added an insurance run on a pair of walks and single by Nick Place.
Each team went down in order for the remainder of the game as LeMoyne secured the victory. The final two games of this series will be played tomorrow, March 26 at 12 and 3 pm in Garden City, N.Y.
