Senior Dodgers string together three wins

July 6, 2016 · 0 Comments

By Jake Courtepatte
The Bolton Dodgers have almost pulled themselves back to .500 baseball with their first three-game winning streak of the 2016 North Dufferin Baseball League season.
The AA ball club pulled themselves further away from the league basement by besting three lower-ranked teams last week, in the Alliston Athletics, Mansfield Cubs and Lisle Astros.
It began with a statement last Tuesday in Alliston, bouncing back from four straight losses. Bolton swatted 14 hits in the game, a season-high, trouncing the Athletics by a score of 12-5.
Shawn Hansen, Michael Gemmiti, Marlon Young and Luke Ratcliffe all had multi-hit games, with Ratcliffe going an astounding five-for-five.
Just as effective in this one was the work on the mound, with Tysen Hansen earning the win through four innings of work. He fanned four while giving up three runs, while Ron DiPalma held Alliston to two runs through the final three innings.
The Bolton squad had a scare in the next night’s home game against the last-place Cubs; a much closer affair that required some late heroics to earn the win.
Up 5-3 heading into the top of the seventh and final inning, Mansfield put on a comeback to score four runs and take a 7-5 lead. Bolton walked off with three of their own in the final half inning.
Gemmiti, a perennial power hitter for the Dodgers, went four-for-four.
Shawn English pitched a complete game, striking out nine over his seven innings of work. His 35 on the year is the fourth-most Ks in the NDBL.
DiPalma was back on the mound Monday at Lisle, earning his second win of the season to overtake the Astros in league standings. He had some help at the plate with three home runs in the game, the first two of the season for Jon Bloomfield and Colin McKeen’s third.
The pitching staff has been especially strong for the Dodgers this year, as the 7-8-1 team currently has the fifth best runs-against in the league.
That record is good for ninth out of 14 teams, though only one point separates the Dodgers from both the eighth-place Barrie Angels and seventh-place Creemore Barons.
Bolton were going to be looking to continue climbing the standings in a home match with the 2-14-1 Nobleton Cornhuskers Wednesday (after press time), followed by back-to-back games in Creemore Sunday against both the Braves and Barons.
For stats, schedules and more information, visit www.ndbl.ca