POWERED BY EIGHTEEN HITS, ‘ROADERS EDGE OUT DOCKHOUNDS
OCONOMOWOC, WISCONSIN (August 5, 2022) – It took all the Cleburne Railroaders had in the tank to narrowly beat the Lake Country DockHounds 9-8 from Wisconsin Brewing Company Park on Friday evening.
Coming into the game, the Railroaders knew that they could get some runs across on the DockHounds who rank last in the league in team ERA. They began the contest executing their plan to perfection, putting three across in the top of the inaugural frame to jump out to a 3-0 advantage.
Chuck Taylor scored the first run via a single by Edwin Arroyo. It was then Hill Alexander time as he launched his second home run in as many nights over the left field wall to make it 3-0.
The DockHounds weren’t done competing after falling down early, however. Daikan Yoh led off the bottom of the first with a solo shot. Lake Country added another run in the inning with a second home run, this one by T.J. Bennett. After one, it was 3-2 in favor of the away team.
It was already clear that this game was going to be a runs palooza as the game headed into the second inning. In the frame, the Railroaders got another run across, this time by a Nick Shumpert double, his first of four hits on the evening, that scored Jacob Bockelie to put Cleburne up two.
Chase Simpson stepped into the box in the top of the third and hit his team-leading twentieth home run to make it 5-2.
That 5-2 lead wasn’t going to be enough to contain the DockHounds, at least in the early going. After Railroaders’ starter Garrett Alexander hit Jordan Schaffer, walked Bennett, and hit Gio Brusa, he allowed a grand slam to Jake Snider that gave Lake Country a 6-5 lead.
Lake Country added on to that lead in the next inning when Schaffer scorched a single through the hole to bring Casey Dykstra around to score. After four complete, it was 7-5 DockHounds.
That lead wouldn’t last for long. When the fifth rolled around, so did the Cleburne offense as they put up a three-spot in the frame. Kacy Clemens drove in Hill Alexander to bring the ‘Roaders within one. They took the lead when Shumpert singled home both Simpson and Clemens to make the score 8-7.
To round out Garrett Alexander’s night on the hill, he allowed one final run that knotted the score back up at eight in the bottom of the sixth.
It didn’t take long for the Railroaders to regain the lead when Taylor hit a two-out single in the top of the seventh that brought Jacob Bockelie around to score and it was 9-8, Cleburne.
That score would hold for the remainder of the game, as Railroaders’ closer Nick Gardewine shut the door on the DockHounds in the bottom of the ninth and Cleburne came away with the victory in the first game of their three-game series against Lake Country.
The offense exploded in the game, recording eighteen hits.
Garrett Alexander got the win for the winning Railroaders. He went six innings, allowing eight runs on five hits with three walks and eight strikeouts.
Robert Gonzalez picked up the loss for the DockHounds after his one inning of work where he allowed the go-ahead run to come across.
Cleburne continues the series tomorrow against Lake Country at 6:05 p.m. from Wisconsin Brewing Company Park, with pregame coverage starting at 5:45 p.m. on aabaseball.tv and on the Railroader Radio Network.