PAGE A20, KEIZERTIMES, JUNE 25, 2021
Volcanoes rally to defeat Senators in seven innings
BY MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
Despite the Volcanoes leaving eight
runners on base for the game, Nick
DiBenedetto came through for his team
when they needed it most.
Trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the sixth,
DiBenedetto knocked a two-out, three-
run run single to give the Volcanoes the
4-3 victory against the Salem Senators
in a seven-inning contest on Friday,
June 18.
“That was a clutch hit by Nicky.
He has been clutch for us all year,”
Volcanoes manager Tony Torcato said.
“You can't get better than that.”
After a pair of runners reached on
free passes with two outs in the top of
the second, Senators outfielder Jordan
Myrow stepped to the dish to try and
give his team the early lead.
Myrow got a hold of a fastball,
launching it into the gap in left center
field. Volcanoes left fielder Nick Adgar
appeared to get to the spot in time, but
the ball glanced off his glove and fell
harmlessly to the outfield grass, allow-
ing both Senators runners to score.
brainfood
Senators base-runner Jordan Drake gets tagged out at the plate by Volcanoes catcher Gabriel
Cotto.
Photo by MATT RAWLINGS of Keizertimes
The Senators held the 2-0 advan-
tage until the bottom of the third, when
the Volcanoes got their first run of the
game on a swinging-bunt RBI-single by
Tony Holton.
It would be the only run that Senators
starting pitcher A.J Burke would sur-
render as the tall right-hander would
throw five innings, giving up just four
hits and striking out six.
In the top of the fourth, the Senators
got back-to-back singles by Angeddy
Almanzar and Jordan Drake to begin
the inning. After a sacrifice bunt from
Myrow, Almanzar was able to score on a
balk by Volcanoes pitcher Eric Ezersky
to put the Senators up 3-1.
Later in the inning, the Senators
got a little too aggressive on the base
paths, which ended up costing them a
run. After Danner Salsberry got hit by
a pitch, the Senators second baseman
attempted to steal second, forcing a
throw from Volcanoes catcher Gabriel
Cotto. Salsberry was called safe on
the play, but on the throw, Drake tried
to score from third and was cut down
at the plate on a rifle from Volcanoes
shortstop Garrett Kueber.
In the top of the fifth, Mavericks
League CEO Mickey Walker made
his debut on the mound for the
Volcanoes. Despite not pitching for
two years, Walker was the Greater
Valley Conference Player of the Year
for McNary in 2014 and pitched colle-
giately at St. Martin's University.
“It felt great. It is a dream come true
to play for the Volcanoes. It feels good
to play baseball again,” Walker said.
After giving up a base hit to the
first batter he faced, Walker forced the
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answers pg A23
next batter to fly out to right field, then
fanned the next two hitters to get out of
the inning.
“It took me a little while to get going,
with the adrenaline pumping and every-
thing. I went 2-0 on the first two batters
and that is never a good formula, and
both of those at-bats ended in hard-hit
balls. But the next two at-bats I was able
to get ahead in the count,” Walker said.
“My fastball was feeling pretty good
and I was able to blow it by them.”
“Mickey is a great pitcher. It was
fun seeing him out there. He had some
pretty good zip on his fastball and he
threw well. I can't wait to see him throw
in the future,” Torcato added.
After trailing for nearly the entire
game, the Volcanoes offense finally
broke through in the bottom of the sixth
when Alan Vazquez replaced Burke on
the bump.
With one out in the inning, Cotto was
hit by a pitch and Bryan Ruby followed
with a sharp single. After Vazquez
struck out the next batter, he issued a
walk to Kueber to load the bases, which
brought DiBenedetto to the plate.
DiBenedetto worked the count to full
before fouling off a trio of pitches. On
the fourth payoff delivery, the Volcanoes
first baseman roped a line drive into the
left center field gap that fell for a hit.
Since it was a full count, runners were
going at the start of Vazquez’s motion
to the plate, so all three runners were
able to score on the single to give the
Volcanoes the 4-3 lead.
“I was ready for the fastball. He
throws the ball hard, so I knew he
was probably trying to go with that,”
DiBenedetto said. “I was super excited