Wong’s Bases-Loaded Hit Leads Commodores’ Charge

11 July 2008


 



Shortstop Joey Wong, of Oregon State, isn’t usually the Commodore that most pitchers fear greatly. Wong, whose game is mostly about speed and defense, isn’t known for driving the ball a long way and making pitchers pay for leaving one up, but he certainly did that to help the Commodores break open a tie ballgame last night.

Wong came through with a bases-loaded double in the fifth inning to give the Commodores a lead they would not surrender as the team went on to win a 7-2 ballgame last night. The victory helped the Commodores inch closer to the .500 mark as they won for the third time in four games, improving to 10-11-1 overall as they hit the mid-point of the 44-game season. Falmouth entered the ballgame trailing Hyannis, Cotuit and Bourne, all of whom were tied for first place in the west division with 24 points.

Falmouth trailed early on as the Brewster Whitecaps scored twice in the second inning off of Falmouth starter Rex Brothers (Lipscomb), who would go on to earn his first CCBL victory, improving to 1-3 in the process. Only one of the runs against Brothers was earned as the Caps squeezed home a run and then were the beneficiaries of an error.

The hometown team would tie the ballgame up with two in the fourth of their own as Brian Fletcher (Auburn) came within inches of hitting a home run. After Jim Cesario (Houston) singled over the pitcher’s mound to start the rally, and then Darin Ruf (Creighton) walked, Fletcher came to the plate and cleared the bases with a bomb to right-center field that hit halfway up the barrier to knot things at 2-2.

Falmouth then came back to score four more in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead for good. The team loaded them up for Wong, who drove in three with his big double.

The rally started when Mike Thomas (Southern) led off the frame with a double roped down the left field line. Kevin Nolan (Winthrop) then singled to right to put men on the corners for AJ Pollack (Notre Dame), who walked to fill the bases up.

Wong then came up and delivered in the clutch, hitting the ball well over the right fielder’s head. He would advance to third on the throw as Thomas, Nolan and Pollack all scored to make it a 5-2 game. Trevor Coleman (Missouri) followed with a sacrifice fly to right field to score Wong and give the Commodores a 6-2 lead.

“I was just trying to get something to the outfield to score a run,” Wong said. “I just wanted to make sure I got one in for us. There were no outs and we were trying to put a rally together.”

Wong would not only have the offensive play of the game, but he also added to his defensive highlight reel in the top of the seventh by robbing Jim Klocke of an infield single. Klocke hit a slow roller to short that the Falmouth shortstop charged, picked up with one hand and then delivered an off-balance strike to Ruf at first to beat the runner by a step.

“It was hit really slow and I figured the only way I could get him was to barehand it,” he said.

The Commodores would add one more in the seventh inning. After Cesario once again reached on a chop single over the hill, the Falmouth infielder went all the way to third when a pickoff attempt sailed wide of the bag. He scored on a single to left by Ruf through a drawn-in Brewster infield.

Brothers picked up the win with five innings of five hit ball. he walked two and struck out five, using 85 pitches. Jon Kountis (Ohio Dominican) worked two shutout innings of relief and then Ben Tootle (Jacksonville State) worked a shutout ninth.

On Wednesday night Falmouth had a two-game win streak snapped by Hyannis thanks in large part to slugger Chris Dominguez, who hit three home runs for the Mets in a 6-2 win. Dominguez also made the defensive play of the night as he turned around a potential rally for the Commodores by snaring a line drive and doubling up a runner at third to snuff out the surge.

The Commodores host Cotuit tonight at 7 PM. 
  


 


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