“It was a tough game, said Lee coach Mark Brew after his Flames (8-2) dropped their second straight contest. “Our guys did an excellent job of battling back into the game.”
TWC tallied three runs in the second powered by a double by Jordan Guida and a two-run homer by Dale Ricketts. The Flames fought back in the top of the fourth to cut the margin to 3-2. Trevor Burgess, who had two hits on the day, singled and scored on a two-run home run by Corey Davis.
The Bulldogs countered right back with a solo shot by Taylor Oldham and tacked on another run in the bottom of the fifth to claim a 5-2 lead. In the sixth Lee tied the battle at 5. Burgess singled. Davis reached on a walk and senior Preston Scoggins drilled a three-run jack shot.
“One of the positives was our guys swinging the bat much better,” noted Brew.
In the seventh the Flames moved on top for the first time, 7-5 and appeared ready to salt a big win away. Edmanuel Rivera, who finished with a perfect 3-for-3, and Jorge Saez ripped back to back doubles. Saez later scored on an infield hit by Blake Barber.
The Bulldogs cut the lead to 7-6 in the eighth, but the Flames had a huge opportunity to put the contest away in the top of the ninth.
Brew's crew had the bases loaded and nobody out. Burgess hit a smash at the TWC first baseman. The first sacker threw to home for the force, but the catcher's return throw to first sailed down the right-field line.
“We thought we had scored two runs but the umpire said Burgess ran inside the baseline which gave them the automatic double play,” pointed out Brew. The threat ended when Barber popped to second.
The bottom of the ninth is one the Flames would like to forget. With one out, the trouble started with a hit batter and a walk, followed to put runners on first and second. A wild pitch moved the TWC runners up to second and third. A sacrifice fly tied the game at 7, and Guida singled to center to score Miles Allen with the winning run.
The Flames scored seven runs on 10 hits. TWC countered with eight runs on 12 hits. “They were able to get some huge two-out hits,” said Brew. “We have to have short memories with our (SSAC) conference opener coming up at Emmanuel this weekend.” A single game is scheduled for Friday at 4 p.m. and the doubleheader on Saturday, starting at 1 p.m.
Jose Samayoa started and hurled three innings for the Flames, but lefty James Rechenbach pitched the Flames out of a jam. All totaled the Flames sent six hurlers to the mound. Joe Fabre was tagged with the loss. Zach Fleshman got the TWC win. Jeremy Fitzgerald pitched the first six innings.
