by Danny Gatta
The Golden Lions of Dowling swept their double header against Concordia today thanks to some lights-out pitching. Outstanding starts by Cody McPartland and Dennis Buckstein along with relief appearances from Dominic Danetti and John Parisi allowed just two Clipper players to cross the plate all day.
They won by the scores of 10-1 and 2-1.
Dowling started the game with three straight hits to load the bases. With no outs, Bobby Morse laced a double down the first base line to drive in two, giving the Golden Lions an early 2-0 lead.
After issuing back-to-back walks in the third, Clippers pitcher Doug Elser surrendered an RBI single up the middle to RJ Going, extending Dowling’s lead to 3-0.
Elser would have more trouble in the fourth, allowing singles to Dwayne Page and Rob Costanzo to place runners on the corners. An RBI bunt single by Chris Appell would make it 4-0. With runners on first and second, Dowling executed a perfect double steal, coaxing the catcher to throw the ball over the third baseman’s head. The runner would advance home, increasing Dowling’s lead to five.
Photo Credit: Danny Gatta
After issuing another walk, Elser’s day was done. Jacob Bannon would enter for Concordia inheriting runners on first and third. Bannon would allow an RBI single and an RBI double, leaving the score 7-0 at the end of four.
McPartland pitched extremely well, allowing no runs in his outing. He finished the day allowing two hits and striking out four in six innings of work. Danetti entered in the sixth, and pitched very well despite allowing the sole run of the game for Concordia.
Coach Caputo was very pleased with the performances he got out of McPartland and Danetti. “They commanded the zone, executed their pitches, and did a great job for us today.”
The Golden Lions would add to their lead in the sixth off new Concordia pitcher Tyler Takvor. After a couple of walks, singles by Tim Going and Rob Costanzo made it 9-0. They would add one more run in the inning off Josh Browning, making it 10-0.
The Clippers would get their only run of the game off Danetti in the eighth. Caputo thought the changes the team made this week leading up to the games really made a big difference.
“Our offense has been sputtering a bit lately and we made some adjustments to our BP routine. Today we got a lot of guys on base and had some great situational hitting that allowed us to score some runs.”
Game two was very low-scoring, and featured great team pitching performances from both clubs. After an infield single and a sac bunt that would move the runner to third, Jaylin Martinez scored on a wild pitch to put Concordia ahead 1-0 in the first. This would be the only run allowed by Dennis Buckstein. He would allow one run, four hits and three walks while striking out five in four innings of work. Parisi replaced Buckstein in the fifth, and pitched three scoreless innings.
Dowling would get even in the third. A leadoff double by Dwayne Page got things started. John Tenaglia would reach safely on a bunt single, when pitcher John Wall’s throw to first was dropped, allowing Page to score and tie the game.
Singles by Dan Farina and Jon Tenaglia in the fifth put runners on the corners with one out. Timmy Going’s sacrifice fly to left field plated Farina, giving Dowling the 2-1 lead.
Parisi allowed a leadoff infield single to start the sixth inning. He would later strikeout back-to-back Clippers, looking, to end the inning, and was then mobbed by his celebrating teammates in the dugout.
Parisi worked around a two out triple in the seventh, and gave Dowling their second victory of the afternoon. The offense was much quieter in game two, but the Golden Lions grinded out the win. When asked about those two strikeouts by Parisi in the sixth, Coach Caputo grinned. “Huge. That was a huge moment for John and the team.”
Dowling is back at home on Tuesday, when they take on Felician College at 3pm.
