Golden, Wildcats take bite out of Bobcats
After his performance at the plate in Tuesday afternoon's game with Northeastern, Dallastown shortstop Tye Golden said he would be willing to continue trading root canals for home runs.
The sophomore underwent two root canals Tuesday morning, returned to school and then slugged two two-run home runs as Dallastown scored a 6-2 YAIAA crossover baseball win against the Bobcats at Northeastern High School.
"It wasn't that painful," Golden said of the root canals. "They numb it, so you don't feel a thing until its done. When the pain medication wore off, it hurt a bit, but as the game went on, it went away."
Dallastown (7-6, 6-3 Division I) has won three straight after a two-game losing skid. Northeastern (8-6, 6-3 Division II) has dropped two of its past three after winning five of six. Both teams are in second place in their respective divisions.
"It was our best defensive effort all year," said Dallastown coach Scott Altland. "No errors and we walk away with a victory. We've had too many games this season where we've had multiple-error games and we've gone home not so happy. I think we've lost four games this year in the sixth inning or later. In this one, we had good defense, good pitching and timely hitting. An all-around good game."
Golden pulled a two-out, two-run homer over the Green Monster-like short right field fence in the fifth inning. That plated catcher Bryant Holtzapple, who had doubled in front of him.
"I think that was a change-up," Golden said. "I was way out in front. I'll give the fence some of the credit there. I think at our field, that is an out."
Golden did it again in the seventh with a two-out, two-run homer to right field that again scored Holtzapple, who had reached on a fielder's choice. That was Golden's fourth homer of the season.
"It was a 3-1 fastball," said Golden, who is in his second varsity season. "That's what I was looking for."
That was enough support for Dallastown right-hander Avery Strayer, who used 94 pitches over six innings. Strayer scattered eight hits while striking out three and walking two. Righty Nick Schuler tossed a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh to close out the game for the Wildcats.
"(Strayer) has pitched some really good games for us this year," Altland said. "We haven't always given him the run support. We finally did in this one. He throws consistently down at the knees and gets a lot of ground ball outs."
Northeastern received a strong pitching performance from southpaw Brady Dolan, who went the distance in a seven-hit, eight-strikeout, two-walk effort. Dolan threw 98 pitches.
"(Dolan) threw very well," said Northeastern coach Andy Srebroski said. "Golden had two good at-bats. They got a runner on in front of him both times. You get an out on either or both of those ... but hey, that's baseball."
The Bobcats plated a second-inning run on a one-out single from No. 9 hitter Tom Skehan and a run in the fifth on a one-out single by No. 2 hitter Jonah Latshaw.
Northeastern's opportunity for a big fifth inning was snuffed out when it stranded three. The Bobcats left two more on base in the sixth.
"We just couldn't find a hole when we needed it," Srebroski said.
On back-to-back plays in the fourth, Dallastown left fielder Jake Garrity threw out a Northeastern runner at third base.
"The first one, I thought there was no way he could get him," Srebroski said. "He was right-handed thrower and the ball was dying. He just made a great throw."
Dallastown 6, Northeastern 2
Dallastown0200202—670Northeastern0010100—281
Dt, Avery Strayer, Nick Schuler (7) and Bryant Holtzapple; NE, Brady Dolan and Devin Blymire.
SO-BB— Dt, Strayer 3-2, Schuler 1-0. NE, Dolan 8-2; W — Strayer; L — Dolan; 2B — Dt, Bryant Holtzapple, Nick Schuler, Joe Capobianco. NE, Kody Reeser; HR — Dt, Tye Golden (2).