Farmingdale Greendogs Defeat Diamond Baseball, 14-7

July 3, 2019

Immediately, the Greendogs got going offensively, pushing five runs across in the first inning. After Justin Ortiz led off the game with a single, Ive Mills drove him in with a triple. The following two batters were retired by Lizards starting pitcher, Anthony Morelli. However, he was unable to fully escape trouble. Dylan Mingo hit a rocket to the shortstop, who couldn’t come up with it cleanly. Brendan Lofaro followed that up with a double, which was then followed by a triple off the bat of Chris Dinota, to give the Greendogs a 4-0 lead. A batter later, Dinota scored, as Daniel Hilton beat out a ground ball to the shortstop. Morelli finally escaped the inning, inducing a ground ball for the third out.

Chris Parisi started the game on the mound for the Greendogs, and he set down the Lizards in order in his first, and ultimately only inning of work.

The Greendogs go right back at it in the second inning, tacking on one more run, as Lorenzo Cimino came around to score on a double off the bat of Parisi. In the bottom of the inning, the Lizards answered back with a run of their own against a new pitcher, Daniel Hilton. Morelli hit a single, and eventually found his way to third base with one out. He came around to score on an infield grounder, cutting the Greendogs’ lead to 6-1.

Both teams were held scoreless in the third inning, but the Greendogs tacked on a couple more runs in the fourth inning, extending their lead to 8-1. The Lizards answered right back with three runs of their own, as Hilton began to lose control of the strike zone. The Greendogs made the call to the bullpen, bringing Brendan Lofaro in to relieve Hilton, with one out, and the bases loaded. A picked off runner and a strikeout later, the Greendogs were out of the jam, preserving their lead and escaping further trouble.

Leading 8-4 heading to the fifth inning, the Greendogs looked to cushion their lead just a bit more, and so they did, scoring two more runs, giving them a 10-4 lead. In the bottom of the fifth, the Lizards answered back again, this time with three runs of their own. James Pendl hit a single, then stole second and third. Ryan Autino then lined out to shortstop, and Pendl was caught too far off of third base. With two outs, Donovan Gilmartin hit a triple to spark somewhat of a rally. Following the triple, Morelli was hit by a pitch. Cayden Nikodem hit a fly ball to right field, and reached base. Gilmartin, Morrelli, and Nikodem all came around to score in the inning, cutting the Lizards deficit to merely 10-7, with just an inning left to play.

The game was just a bit too close for comfort for the Greendogs. To cushion their lead just a bit more, they scored four more runs in the top of the sixth inning. They then led 14-7, which would stand for the remainder of the game, as Lofaro worked around a base hit to shut down the Lizards in the bottom of the sixth.

In their offensive onslaught, the Greendogs got contributions from every member of their lineup, with every player having at least one run driven in. Coach Anthony Cimino said “from top to bottom, we work on everyone getting on base and getting their hits. We expect that from them, and they did a great job.”