Chillicote, OH- The Falcons baseball team had a day of rest after they suffered their first losses of the season on Friday afternoon to the University of Rio Grande. Both games were close but the Red Storm prevailed in both sweeping the day on Friday. Sunday brought the same fate for the Falcons as they were swept by Rio again in a pair of seven inning games, 13-3 in Game 1 and 3-2 (8 innings) in Game 2.
Game 1- The first inning started promising for the Falcons as Jacob Deziel (Merrimac, MA) got on as he was hit by a pitch by Rio's starter Caine Whitney, then Mitchell Lundholm (Plymouth, MA) followed with a single to left putting runners on first and second with one out. Jamie Whynot (Bridgewater, Nova Scotia) was also hit by a pitch from Whitney, loading the bases for Ismael Perez (Brooklyn, NY), but a solid liner was snagged by Rio's second baseman to end the threat. Falcons starter Raymundo Gomez (Lynn, MA) had a clean first inning, but the Red Storm got on the board first plating three runs in the bottom of the second inning. Three hits, a walk and a HBP, got Rio three runs and forced Coach Dulin to go to his bullpen early as he brought in John Travieso (Miami, FL), who closed the inning getting Michael Rodriguez to pop out. Rio tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the 4th by way of a hit, a walk, an error and a pair of stolen bases, taking a 5-0 lead into the top of the fifth. The Falcons grabbed their first run of the game in the 5th as Deziel was hit by another pitch and was moved over by a Lundholm single. Jonathan Rosado (Bayamon, PR) grounded to third, moving both runners up with two outs. Deziel proceeded to score on the next pitch as a Rio wild pitch got by the catcher allowing Deziel to get home safely. The Falcons grabbed another pair of runs in the top half of the 6th from pair of singles from Perez and Reynaldo Mejia (Lawrence, MA) to keep the Falcons within reach. Rio was able to put the game out of reach though as they scored eight runs on nine hits and taking advantage of three Falcons miscues.
Lundholm and Rivera each had a pair of hits in the loss for the Falcons with Mejia earning the sole RBI for the visitors. Dylan Shockley and Caden Cluxton led the way for the Red Storm as they each collected three hits, and combined for three runs and four RBI's.
Game 2- The night cap was a much different contest as the two teams were tied 2-2 after a full seven, forcing extra innings, the first extra innings game for the Falcons this season. Rio got on the board right off the bat in the bottom of the first off of Fisher's starter Johann Doerrer (Dolgeville, NY) after back-to-back hits to go up 1-0. But a nice double play turned by Ivan Rivera (Brooklyn, NY) got the Falcons out of trouble early. Doerrer settled in, pitching two clean innings in the third and fourth, but Rio tacked on another run in the 4th to take a 2-0 lead after four full. The Falcons got on the board in the top of the 6th as Lundholm led off the inning with another single. Perez then took a 3-2 pitch deep to right center, scoring Lundholm to get the Falcons within one at 2-1. Doerrer continued to pitch well, sitting down all three batters coming to the plate in the bottom of the sixth. After Deziel reached by way of the walk, and Reynaldo Vega (Aguada, PR) reached by a Rio error, Lundholm collected his sixth hit of the day and first RBI, plating Deziel to tie the game at 2-2. Doerrer pitched another clean inning in the bottom of the 7th, forcing extra innings. A Falcons error allowed the leadoff batter Dylan Shockley to get all the way to third to start the inning. The Falcons intentionally walked the next two batters, looking for the force outs, but a Cole Dyer sacrifice fly to center allowed Shockley to score sealing the 3-2 win for the home team.
Lundholm went 4 for 4 in the losing effort, with Perez collecting the only other single for the Falcons in a tough loss. Doerrer pitched well for the Falcons, going the distance, scattering just seven hits while striking out six. Caden Cluxton was the only player on the Storm that collected more than one hit, going 2 for 3 in the win.
The Falcons will travel back home through the night and will head to the New England Baseball Complex on Thursday to take on the Newbury Nighthawks. The game is slated for a 3:30pm start.