By Anthony Bosco
The Midville Dodgers college team was 7-0 in the Interstate Collegiate Baseball League heading into Saturday’s doubleheader showdown with the defending champion Westchester Indians.
Midville had previously beaten the Indians, 5-2, and a sweep would keep the unbeaten Dodgers in first place. But 10 days of inactivity contributed to the team’s shoddy play en route to being swept, 10-2 and 6-4.
“Mainly it was that we hadn’t played a game in 10 days,” said Midville head coach Bert Beagle. “We played sloppy defensively.”
The Dodgers were also short-handed, missing starting shortstop Mike Cannone, who was replaced by second baseman Juan Carlos Maldonado. Maldonado’s spot was filled by “rookie” Rudy Mejia, who played for the Holy Cross Knights this spring.
To top things off, pitcher Kevin Monjiori, out of Pace University, struggled early in the game, allowing Westchester to an early lead the Indians would never relinquish.
Monjiori gave up a one-out walk in the first and then an opposite field home run to put Midville in a quick 2-0 hole. The Dodgers did get a run back, however, in their first at bat, as Maldonado singled, took second on a wild pitch and scored when the catcher’s throw went into center field and the centerfielder’s throw to third bounced away.
The Indians got two more in the top of the second when Monjiori issued two walks and allowed two hits.
“He was a little wild early,” Beagle said of his starter.
In the top of the fourth inning, an Indians’ triple and a wild pitch by Monjiori made the score 5-1, but the Dodgers closed the gap to 5-2 in the bottom half of the fourth when Rick Mundy walked, took second on a balk and scored on a ground ball to third that was thrown away.
The score remained 5-2 until the top of the seventh, when Westchester poured on five more runs to put the game out of reach.
Ramone Valenzuella went to the hill for the Dodgers in the nightcap and pitched well for most of the game, as the two teams were locked in a scoreless tie heading into the fourth inning.
The Indians, playing as the home team, scored twice in the fourth on a walk, triple and sacrifice fly to break the ice. The Dodgers, however, came back to tie it in the top of the fifth thanks to Jefferson Infante’s line drive solo home run to left field and Robert Benjamin, who singled, moved to second on a sacrifice and scored the equalizer on David Spinner’s single.
The Dodgers had runners on second and third with one out, but failed to do any more damage.
The Indians added three in the fifth on a throwing error, a one-out intentional walk, a chopper over first, a bloop single to shallow right and a throwing error. A double and single in the bottom of the sixth made the score 6-2.
Midville scored twice in the seventh when Infante singled with two outs, Spinner tripled and Ken Ward singled to make the score 6-4, but that’s where the comeback attempt ended.
North Salem Knights 5-10, Midville Dodgers, 3-6. The Dodgers were also swept in a doubleheader Sunday, falling to 7-4 in the Interstate Collegiate Baseball League and 12-6 overall. The Dodgers will play two doubleheaders at Juniper Valley Park this weekend, starting with a double-dip against the Throgs Neck Braves Saturday at noon, followed by a twin bill against the Condors on Sunday at 3:30 p.m.
Reach Sports Editor Anthony Bosco by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 130.
