Bolton Dodgers blanked by Aurora in North Dufferin Baseball action

July 9, 2014 · 0 Comments

By Jeff Doner
The 2014 season hasn’t been kind to the Bolton Dodgers, as injuries and inconsistency have them sitting fourth from the bottom in the North Dufferin Baseball League standings.
Last week, the Dodgers didn’t help their cause with a 4–0 loss to the Aurora Jays. The team, however, showed some good signs in their only match up of the week.
Ron Dipalma started for the Brewers, pitching a solid game to give his team a shot.
“I felt alright out there, it was just a few key mistakes that burned us,” he said post-game. “Today there wasn’t enough hitting. We didn’t hit enough and you’ve got to do that to play.”
Dipalma was bang on about his team’s offence, as they rarely touched the bases throughout the night.
“We’re hoping to turn things around a bit here,” he observed. “We’re trying as hard as we can, but we’re a good team. We’ve just got to play better.”
Before long, the Aurora Jays’ potent offence began to wake up, scoring three runs in the third inning.
The score stayed at 3–0 until the Jays added a fourth run in the fifth, to cap a 4–0 victory over Bolton.
Dodger Andrew English gave his starting pitcher credit for his strong start and agreed with his post-game assessment.
“Tonight it was a lack of offence,” he said. “Ronnie pitched an excellent game for us, but we just couldn’t get the sticks working. That’s nothing against the other pitcher, but we were just hitting the ball right at everybody tonight.”
English admitted it has been a trying season for the Dodgers, but he thought there’s still a good shot for his team to turn things around and end on a positive note.
“It’s been a tough year in terms of a lot of injuries, but we’re starting to come around,” he said. “We have a favourable schedule over the last nine games we’ve got and we’re sitting two points out of the playoffs, so we’ve still got an opportunity if we can put some wins together. So we’re still confident.”
The Dodgers will try to make up some ground this week. The were scheduled to face off against the New Lowell Knights at home yesterday (Wednesday). but the results were not known at press time. They will play the Angus Black Sox on the road tonight (Thursday) and then be back at home Sunday for a tilt with the Nobleton Cornhuskers.
“The bottom of the standings is still really wide open for anyone who goes on a run,” English added. “I still like our chances, but that being said, we’ve got no room for error now.”
For stats, standings and schedules, visit www.ndbl.ca

Dodgers pitcher Ron DiPalma sets up before delivering a pitch against the Aurora Jays in Bolton last week. DiPalma pitched a solid game, but the Dodger’s offense wasn’t behind him in a 4-0 loss.