By Lonnie Turner
The bat of Cooper Lane and pitching arm of Jared Darmon propelled the Dillon Internal Medicine Hurricanes past the Dillon Family Dental Giants, 5-2, on Monday night at Kiwanis/Michael Lecholop Park, to take over sole possession of first place in the five-team Major League.
Noah Carter opened the game for the Giants beating out a ground ball to short, stole second and third, and scored on a well hit single by Nick Evans to take a 1-0 lead, but in the bottom of the inning, Josh Brown led off for the Hurricanes with his first of three bases on balls on the night and scored when Lane blasted a hit that bounced off the left field fence on the fly to tie the game.
In the third, Brown and Darmon walked with two outs and Lane’s hit to the opposite field sent Brown across the plate for a 2-1 lead. The ‘Canes added two more runs in the fourth inning when Trent McNeill opened the frame with a double and later scored ahead of Keith Rippy on a fielding error. Rippy had walked with one out for his second of three free passes.
After Quentin Hunt led off the Giants’ fifth inning, Evans doubled to the right field corner and was thrown out at third when he attempted to stretch the hit into a triple. Hunt’s score cut the Hurricane lead to 4-2, but Lane led off the bottom of the inning with a home run that cleared the right field fence.
Relief pitcher Chandler Matthews settled down to retire the side and Darmon set the Giants down in order in the last inning to get his third win of the young season. The hard throwing right hander struck out 14 to run his season’s total to 24. He gave up five hits and, for the third straight game, has not walked a batter.
Carter was tagged with the loss, giving up two runs in relief. He struck out three, walked one, and gave up one hit.
The Hurricanes are scheduled to take on the Dillon Meat Center Reds in Thursday’s second game at 7:30 and the Giants will match up with the Feed and Farm Store Rangers in the late game on Friday.
Andrew Bryant shut out the McLeod Health Marlins with a no-hitter in the Minor League game on Monday. He struck out 11, walked nine in his four innings of work, but allowed only one base runner to reach third base and he was tagged out by the catcher trying to score on a passed ball. Bryant helped himself and the winning Ace Hardware Tigers with his bat knocking in a pair of runs with two singles in as many times at bat.
The Tigers blew the game wide open with five runs in the top of the fourth inning on four hits and two walks. Dylan Windham led the way leading off with a triple and scored when Bryant followed with a single. Quashawn Singleton’s single scored Bryant. With the bases loaded, Singleton scored on a fielder’s choice by Alex Jensen and Jacob English, who had singled, crossed the plate when Landon was issued a base on balls while the bases were still loaded. The Tigers will face the Burger King Braves at 5 on Tuesday and McLeod takes on the league leading Pepsi-Cola Blue Jays in the nightcap.
