Baseball / Hodges Crushes Clutch Homer to Lead Waves Past Schooners, 14-10

Hodges Crushes Clutch Homer to Lead Waves Past Schooners, 14-10

Date:  Source: Ocean State Waves

South Kingstown, RI- 24 runs and 33 hits kept things interesting Tuesday night at Old Mountain Field, as it was another back and forth affair between the Schooners and the Waves, with Waves coming out victorious, 14-10.

Ocean State would open up the scoring with one run in the bottom of the first and second innings thanks to an RBI single from Joe Simone (Wayne, NJ/ Rider U) and an RBI double from Elijah Dunham (Evansville, IN/ Indiana U).

The middle innings of the game would be a back and forth affair, with four lead changes after the bottom of the seventh. The first of Ocean State’s big innings would come in the bottom of the fifth, when they put up a five spot. Simone and Xavier Vargas (Woodhaven, NY/ URI) each had an RBI single, and Dunham had his second RBI double of the game.

After Mystic took the lead back in the top of the sixth with four runs, the Waves would prove their resilience by answering with three in the seventh to tie the game at 10. Garrett Hodges (Blairsville, GA/ Kennesaw St) tripled to left center, driving in Simone and Ian Ostberg (Florence, MA/ Quinnipiac). Vargas would then follow with an RBI single for the Waves 17th hit of the evening.

But the big blow for the Waves would come off the bat of 2018 NECBL All-Star Garrett Hodges. With one out and bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, Hodges wasted no time off Schooners reliever Will Levine (Mission Viejo, CA/ Arizona State). He took a first pitch fastball deep to center field for his third homerun of the season, fifth hit and sixth RBI’s off the day.

The win for Ocean State went to Jake Walker (Milton, MA/ URI), who pitched a clean eighth inning for the Waves, giving up only one hit and striking out one. CJ McKennitt (Concord, MA/ Holy Cross) did not allow a hit while striking out the side in the ninth. The loss for Mystic went to Levine, who pitched two innings, giving up four runs on four hits, walking one and striking out one.

Ocean State (11-19) looks to continue their three game winning streak when they head to Newport to take on the second place Gulls (18-13). First pitch is scheduled for 6:35, and can be heard online via the NECBL Broadcast Network.