By this coming Sunday the Niagara Power will be very familiar with the 2012 edition of the Dodgers from Hornell. They will also have a pretty good idea of where they stack up in the New York Collegiate Baseball League’s Western Division.
Hornell will close the week with three games in two days at Sal Maglie Stadium on Friday and Saturday. First, however, the Power will travel to Rochester and Geneva before returning home Thursday to face Olean. At that point, the Hyde Park Crew will have seen every member of the division in which they will be competing for a playoff berth.
One gentleman the Power are already familiar with is first-baseman Matt Calhoun. He introduced himself by continuing his early season tear through the NYCBL schedule with a 2 for 4 night, which included a single, a double, a sacrifice fly, three RBI, and two runs scored.
Nicholas Boyd picked up his second win of the season in the Dodgers 9-3 victory. Hornell improved to (4-2) by winning the battle of two teams who came into the baseball game following consecutive losses.
A bright spot for the Power was the emergence of Ken DeCook. DeCook entered in the 6th and held Hornell scoreless for the first time in the baseball game. DeCook had overpowering stuff, striking out 4 across 2 1/3 innings. Jordan Powell and Tim Leathersich followed the right-hander in relief. The bullpen pitched very well and were able to keep the high-powered Dodger offense off the board in each of the final four frames.
Niagara was led at the plate by left-fielder Shakeel Newton and backstop Frank Polino. Newton, who possesses game-changing speed, is really beginning to put good wood on the baseball; while Polino continues to find a way to push runs across with timely hits. Frank used a line drive into the right-center field gap in the 4th inning to plate two of the Power’s three runs on the night.
The most memorable moment of the contest for the visiting team was provided by Tyler Schweigert. In a play that had to be seen to be believed, the Niagara third-baseman went literally behind his head to field a scremer in his direction after an unexpected last-second bad hop. He then displayed the strength of his arm by turning in time to throw the runner out at first. Coach Garrett Shivley was quick to note, “it was one of the best plays I have ever seen, certianly among the best I have ever seen from anyone in a Niagara Power uniform.” Schweigert also contributed at the plate, driving a ball off the base of the wall in deep left-field which produced the final run of the game for the Power.
Niagara (2-3 overall, 1-3 in League Play) is back in action against the AIA squad tomorrow night at Basket Road Field in Webster NY, with a 7PM first pitch.
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