Rodriguez has three-hit day; Garden City holds off Clarendon

By Mike Pilosof

Photos by Adam Shrimplin

Garden City, KS-Chris Finnegan said it before the season ever started: "We're not a power team, so we need to hit a lot of doubles."

So get to use to scores likes Wednesday, where extra base hits were key and back-end pitching put the game away.

Ibrahim Rodriguez collected a season-high three hits, Damian Acosta worked an inning of scoreless relief to pick up his first save of the season, and Garden City edged Clarendon 4-3 at Williams Stadium.

Starting pitcher, Michael Thorne, who missed all of last season after breaking his ankle, looked sharp, allowing just one run on two hits in two innings. And he proved he could get himself out of a jam.

In the second, he surrendered a leadoff single to Edwin Santana. The Bulldogs' leftfielder then took second on a wild pitch before coming home on Dennis Ortiz's RBI single to give Clarendon a 1-0 edge. But the freshman pitcher settled down, getting JC Reed to fly out to center; before striking out Brady Boyle on a breaking ball on the outside corner. With two outs, he induced Mathieu Sirois into a pop up on the infield, racing back to the dugout having short circuited a Bulldog rally.

And it didn't take Garden City very long to answer.

Finnegan's bunch went to work in the bottom of the second. Rodriguez singled; then went to second on a passed ball. Tommy Alitz followed with a walk, and Darrian Escobar-Winter doubled to right field to tie the game. An inning later, Rodriguez extended the lead with a bloop single to center, pushing Jake Barber across for a 3-1 advantage.

Then it was the bullpen's turn to try and nail it down.

Caleb Ayers pitched two solid innings of relief, not allowing a hit while fanning three. He was pulled in the sixth for Nayton Agosto, worked around a two-out walk. But in the seventh, he yielded a leadoff double to Sirois. Later in the frame, Finnegan replaced him with Zach Thill, who promptly dropped to spinning breaking balls in the dirt, allowing two runs to score to even the game at 3.

The Broncbusters got that run back in the bottom of half. After Kyle Jameson was hit by a pitch, Barber singled him home, putting Garden City on top 4-3.

That's all insurance they needed.

Evan Dean worked a scoreless eighth, setting the table for Acosta, who closed the game in the ninth by getting Santana to chase a 90 mph fastball just out of the zone. Ball game over.

Finnegan used eight different pitchers with none of them throwing more than two innings. Barber collected his third hit of the season, and Alitz drew a pair of walks.

Next up: Garden City vs. Southeastern Nebraska-Saturday, Feb. 8-12 p.m. and 2 p.m.