By The TimesLedger
When the Midville Dodgers took on defending regional champions the Long Island Cardinals last Wednesday, they knew they would have their hands full. Dodgers’ ace Kevin Conlin was given the ball and turned in a masterful performance on the mound, holding the Cards to three hits and allowing only one earned run through seven innings.
Though his strike out numbers weren’t high, Conlin’s ability to induce ground balls was superb. The Dodgers scored early, putting up three runs in the first inning and then adding on another six for a 9-3 win.
Hitting stars for the Dodgers were Vinny Johnson, 2-for-3 with a two of RBIs, Andrew Pfeffer, 2-for-3 with an RBI, and Frankie Russo, 2-for-3 with an RBI.
Maloney’s homer propels Midville past Bayside
On a hot, muggy Sunday afternoon, the Midville Dodgers met the Bayside Yankees National team at beautiful Juniper Valley Park. Midville sent pitcher Mike Dietz to the mound for the first game of the twin bill. He held the Yankees to two runs until the fifth inning, when the 90 degree heat and oppressive humidity got to him and the Yankees scratched out five runs. The Dodgers brought in reliever Anthony Bruno, who continues to shine in big spots for the Dodgers. He shut down the Yankees on four ground outs to second and two harmless pop ups to keep the Dodgers close.
With Bayside leading 8-7 in the final frame, Midville’s Andrew Pfeffer drew a lead-off walk. Power-hitting Mike Maloney promptly hit a 1-0 fastball deep to left-center and the Dodgers had a dramatic 9-8 victory.
On the offensive side of the ball, base hits by Denson Ambrose, Kevin Conlin (two RBIs), Andrew Pfeffer and Matt Rizzotti’s RBI-double led the Midville attack. Mike Manetta once again got a big hit with a timely single that drew the Dodgers within a run in the sixth inning.
In the nightcap, he hard throwing Frankie Russo took the mound. Keeping the Yankees off balance with his fastball, curve and cutter, Russo yielded only one unearned over three innings. But the wheels fell off of the Russo express in the fourth, when he allowed three runs, mostly due to wildness, as he walked two and hit two batters. With the bases loaded with one out and the tying run coming to the plate, coach James Arrante strolled to the mound brought in Daniel Pagan, who promptly fanned both batters to shut the door. Pagan yielded one run in the fifth but collected four Ks in 3.2 innings, earning his second save of the season.
Dodger bats where unstoppable in this slugfest, collecting 17 hits with Andrew Pfeffer going 3-for-5, Chris Kaible 2-for-3, Mike Maloney 2-for-3, Tommy Maser 1-for-2 and Anthony Bruno. again going 2-for-2. The final score had Midville winning 12-5.
Lally Fans 11, Dodgers roll past Yanks, 8-1
James Lally hurled a complete game three-hitter, striking out 11 and allowing one run to lead the Dodgers past the Bayside Yankees Nationals at St. Anthony’s in Huntington Saturday. The one run came on a solo blast by Yankee hitter Patrick Cambell, a stand out player from Archbishop Molloy High School. Otherwise, Lally kept the Yanks off the bases, while the Dodgers put up eight runs of their own to take game one of a long weekend of Dodger-Yankee baseball. The Dodgers had 10 hits, two apiece by Andrew Pfeffer, Mike Dietz and Matt Rizzotti capped of by a solo homer by Kevin Conlin was all the Dodgers needed, cruising to a 8-1 victory.
Midville Dodgers Juniors top DePhillips Seniors, 6-5
The Midville Dodgers sent pitcher Craig Pestun to the mound to see what he could do against an older and stronger team. He managed to fair nicely for 4.1 innings by only giving up three hits and striking out five. But In the fifth he experienced some control problems, giving up five runs.
In the fifth Pestun loaded the bases on a hit and two walks. Dodger pitching coach James Arrante could see he was getting tired and called on reliever Anthony Bruno to put out the fire. Bruno induced a ground out and a strike out to get the Dodgers out of a what could have been a bigger inning for the DePhillips squad.
By then the Dodgers had put up four runs of their own and it was all Bruno, as he mowed down DePhillips batters in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to get his first win of the season.
Bruno also helped himself by leading off the bottom of the fourth with a single and later scored the tying run. Leading the Dodgers offense was Vinny Johnson and Matt Rizzotti, as the two hit back-to-back home runs. Rizzotti would belt another one the following inning, which turned out to be winning run, as the younger Dodgers edged DePhillips, 6- 5.
Kapela Fans nine, Young Dodgers scalp Indians
The Dodger Freshman Team (ages 13 and 14) beat the Oakdale Indians with a strong pitching performance from Andrew Kapela, including nine strikeouts and going the distance last Tuesday. The evening began with a big inning leading off with timely hitting from Matt Schindler and Robert Keen, scoring four runs in the first. It appeared that was all Kapela needed to corral the Indians, but the Dodgers added to their score to complete the game with a 6-4 win.
Midville Freshmen split with L.I. Bulldogs
In the first game the usually reliable Dodger defense fell apart and let down starter Joe Curcio, committing six costly errors in a tough loss, allowing five unearned runs. The Dodgers went on to lose by a score of 14-2.
In the nightcap, the Dodgers started finesse pitcher Matt Schindler, who hurled six strong innings, striking out six and allowing only two walks. The Dodger players went to work early with Steven Heim and Ian Leisenheimer going 2-for-4. Heim hit a double and triple and Leisenheimer added to the barrage with two singles. Jared Macchirole and Andrew Kapela also added to the assault, both going 2-for-4 to cap the Dodgers’ 6-4 win over the Bulldogs.
