Dogs come from behind in seventh

River Dogs advance to loser bracket semi-finals

NEWARK, Ohio — Brad Tracy continued his hot hitting for the River Dogs in the Babe Ruth Senior World Series. He went 3-for-3 in a come from behind victory over Denham Springs, La, 4-3, Tuesday.

"We never quit," head coach Randy Boruff said. "Our pitching was solid."

Jorge Reyes pitched two scoreless innings to pick up the victory in relief for the Dogs who scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning.

In the first inning the River Dogs went three up and three down against the starting left handed pitcher Jarmen McChristian for the Denham Springs team from Louisiana.

Left hander Chad Hunter started on the mound for the River Dogs. Denham threatened early with two runners on base in the first inning but could not score.

Sonny Garza led off the second inning for the River Dogs with a single. Edward Rodriguez followed with a double play ball and the Dogs did not threaten any further.

The Dogs had the defense working Tuesday. In the second inning, Denham had one runner reach base but did not score after the Dogs threw out the lead runner on an attempted sacrifice bunt.

Brad Tracy singled in third inning but was left stranded at third base as the River Dogs could not drive him in.

Denham scored first, in the third inning, when they scratched out three runs for a 3-0 lead. In the inning they bunched together two singles, two hit batsmen, and two ground outs. They were assisted by two River Dogs errors.

The lead did not last long as the Dogs answered immediately, in the fourth inning. Hawkins Gebbers and Garza hooked up for back-to-back doubles and Tracy added the third RBI when he hit a single in the inning, tying the score at 3-3.

Hunter kept Denham scoreless in the bottom of the fourth.

In the fifth inning the River Dogs ran into trouble. Denham had loaded the bases when Boruff made a call to the bullpen, for right-hander Jorge Reyes.

It was his first action of the Babe Ruth Senior World Series. Reyes struck-out the Denham batter for the final out of the inning, allowing the Dogs to escape with the score still tied.

Both teams went scoreless in the sixth inning.

In the seventh inning Gebbers stepped to the plate with pinch runner Garrett Dano at second base. Gebbers came through in the clutch, lining an RBI single to center field for the game winning run.

Garza strode to the mound and slammed the door on Denham. He retired the batters in order with a strikeout, lineout and strikeout.

The loss eliminates Denham from the series. The Dogs move on to play Thursday at 5 p.m. Their opponent is yet to be determined.

If the Dogs win their first game on Thursday they will play in the loser bracket finals the same night, for a chance to reach the series finals.