Wet baseballs hindered Jack Dillon’s pitching outing Saturday, but the steady drizzle didn’t keep him from tossing a two-hitter in Radford’s 6-3 home baseball victory over Farrington.
Dillon struck out 11 and got through a tough, three-walk fifth inning in keeping the Rams (8-0) at the top of the OIA D-II standings. After the first half-inning, a bolt of lightning was visible in the distance behind home plate. Some rumbles of thunder followed briefly and the rain continued throughout, causing a short delay in the middle of the third.
“It got to the point where every single ball was wet and every single ball weighed a different amount, and the mound was slippery,” Dillon said. “But our guys and Farrington stepped up and dealt with the elements really well. I struggled in the middle of the game and was a little worried. I wanted to keep the walks to a minimum because that was what was going to hurt us.”
The Governors (6-2) fell behind by four twice (4-0 and 5-1), but rallied to make it 5-3 after drawing those three walks in the fifth. Kamaehu Sanchez drilled an RBI single and Caleb Sherman drove in another run with a sacrifice pop-up that Rams shortstop Richard Akana made a running catch of in shallow left-field foul territory. With two runners on and two out, Dillon got perhaps his most important out — Randy Wong’s inning-ending 5-4 fielder’s choice.
“It’s been our M.O. lately — we give up a big inning and then we fall behind and scrap back,” Farrington coach Eric Tokunaga said. “We were a couple of hits away from getting into the game or going ahead, but just couldn’t pull the trigger for some reason.”
Over the final two innings, Dillon mowed down the final six batters he faced, including three by strikeout.
“It’s always tough to pitch in those conditions,” Rams coach Jacob Sur said as the drizzle continued after the game. “Jack came through when it mattered and got some big strikeouts. Five walks is very odd for him, and I’m sure it had to do with the rain.”
A week ago, Radford got a bit of practice in horrible baseball conditions while on a trip to the Seattle area for two games.
“It was like this, but 30 degrees,” Sur said.
“It was way colder,” Dillon said. “And it was hailing.”
Dillon helped himself at the plate with a two-run single to right that was part of a four-run second inning for the Rams’ 4-0 lead. Akana delivered a sacrifice fly for a 5-1 edge in the fourth, and Matt Lukins’ RBI double accounted for Radford’s final run in the sixth.
The Rams’ schedule does not get easier. They play second-place Waianae (6-1) on Wednesday and get a rematch with the Govs on Saturday.
Farrington takes on Kaimuki (5-2) on Wednesday.
“We’re working on everything we can to score runs and put the ball in play,” Tokunaga said about his Governors. “We need the big hits and gotta clutch up. But I’ll say we’re going to be there in the end.”
