Indians win three more

Dodge showed no mercy in the third inning by scoring three runs on four hits and three stolen bases to run the score to 6-1. Though Dodge never trailed and only allowed the one unearned run, the Indian batters went on the warpath in the fourth inning and eventually chased Falcons pitcher Tyler Mimbs from the game. Herschel Anderson led off the fourth with a long homer and Clint Taylor followed suit four batters later with his second homerun of the year and the second in as many games. In between, JoJo Harrison and Christian Miller scored to increase the run total to 10-1. But Dodge was still not finished. After Mimbs was relieved by Dylan Ward, the hits kept on coming. Trent Mitchell walked on four straight pitches, Brady Blalock singled, and Blake Moore doubled the runners home for two RBI’s, making the score 13-1.

In the fifth and final inning of the day, Brandon Beck and Trent Mitchell both recorded doubles and then with Mitchell on base, Blalock collected two RBI’s on his first homerun of the year. Beck finished off the Falcons in the bottom of the fifth inning to notch his second win of the year. Every Indian scored at least one run for Dodge with Miller and Blalock scoring three apiece. Blalock went 3 for 4 with a homer, two RBI’s, as stolen base and three runs scored. Miller also went 3 for 4 with three runs scored and a stolen base. Herschel Anderson was 3 for 4 also with a homer, a double, a run scored, and three RBI’s. The hitter of the night, though, was Blake Moore who went 4 for 4 with two doubles, a stolen base and four RBI’s. In total, Dodge had twenty hits on the afternoon on the way to their tenth victory of the year. Brandon Beck pitched a terrific game by allowing only one unearned run on six hits and five strikeouts on 81 pitches. Beck is now two and one on the year.
The Indians’ game with Vidalia was postponed to Friday due to storms late Thursday afternoon.

Dodge traveled to Vidalia on Friday, April 9 to take on the Vidalia Indians and came away with a one run victory, winning four to three. A wide and low strike zone baffled Dodge County batters all day and the first two of 10 strikeouts was recorded in the top of the first inning. In the bottom of the first, Indians pitcher Clint Taylor allowed a walk to Vidalia’s leadoff hitter, Brandon Primus, on four straight pitches. Primus would eventually score an unearned run.

JoJo Harrison made a spectacular stab and grab of a hot line shot and then doubled off the runner at second base for an unassisted double play to end the first inning.

In the top of the second inning, Dodge’s Trent Mitchell and Blake Moore scored to take the lead from Vidalia. In the top of the third, Dodge scored two unearned runs after back-to-back walks by Herschel Anderson and Jojo Harrison came home on a two RBI single by Indian’s pitcher Clint Taylor.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Vidalia got a leadoff, first pitch homer by their pitcher, Zach Burton and an unearned run by Layton Jones to close the gap to four runs to three. That ended the scoring for the day and Dodge took their eleventh victory and sixth sub-region win from Vidalia.

It took a great defensive play to secure the win for Dodge, however. In the fifth inning, with runners at first and third with only one out, Blake Moore raced into shallow right centerfield and made a Superman-worthy diving catch to preserve the lead for Taylor and the Indians.
Dodge only scored one earned run off of Vidalia’s Burton but all three walks he issued to Dodge County batters ended up scoring. Clint Taylor is now five and one on the season.

The Dodge County Indian baseball team played two games during the week of March 29-April 2, 2010. The Indians lost to the Toombs County Bulldogs 6-5 on March 30 in Lyons and then defeated the West Laurens Raiders 8-7 at home on Thursday, April 1.

On March 30th the Indians traveled to Lyons to take on the Toombs County Bulldogs in a hotly contested Region 3B-AA sub-region game. The Bulldogs and Indians were both 4-0 in sub-region play and contending for the coveted number one seed in the sub-region. Javec King took the mound for the Bulldogs and was opposed by Brandon Beck of the Indians. King sat down the first eight Indians he faced before giving up a bunt single to Dodge’s Cole Evans with two outs in the top of the third. Also in the third inning, the Indians’ Brandon Beck gave up a leadoff walk to the Bulldogs’ Patrick Craft who later scored to give Toombs County a 1-0 lead.

The Indians tied the game after a single by JoJo Harrison and two wild pitches by King in the fourth inning. The Indians took the lead in the top of the fifth when Herschel Anderson’s groundout scored Christian Miller from third base. The Indians pushed three runs across the plate in the top of the seventh to extend their lead to 5-1 over the Bulldogs, but in the bottom of the inning the Toombs batters came to life.
Beck, trying to finish the game for himself, got the first out in the seventh but then gave up four hits, a walk, and three earned runs before being pulled for Clint Taylor who entered in relief. Taylor, recovering from illness, gave up two singles to allow the Bulldogs to make a dramatic comeback . Beck went six and one third innings and only al(Continued from Page 1B)lowing three hits in the first six innings and then four in the seventh and recording 4 strikeouts. Indians batters had five hits off of King and scored four earned runs including two runs by Christian Miller and Herschel Anderson’s three RBI’s on one hit.

On Thursday, April 1, the West Laurens Raiders traveled to Eastman to take on the Indians. West Laurens had beaten the Indians in Dexter on March 18 by a score of 13-3 and the Indians were looking to redress that loss.

Clint Taylor gave up a leadoff homer to Will Thomas to start the game and then struck out three of the next four batters in the inning. West Laurens scored another run in the top of the third before Dodge’s bats came to life. Christian Miller crushed a two-run homerun with two outs in the bottom of the third. Neither team could score in the fourth or fifth innings.

In the sixth inning, however, the Raiders scored three runs off of the Indians’ Clint Taylor. Taylor only allowed one earned run, but was pulled in relief for first baseman/pitcher Christian Miller. Miller allowed one earned run before ending the sixth inning. Dodge scored two runs on a double by left fielder Cole Evans to pull the Indians to within two runs at 6-4.

In the top of the final inning, West Laurens scored what they hoped to be an insurance run after the Raiders’ Eason Spivey singled to lead off the inning. Miller walked the second batter and allowed an RBI single to Vaughn Murkerson to finish the scoring for the Raiders.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Indians got a much-needed comeback victory. Herschel Anderson led off the inning with a double to right center field and was sacrificed to third by Jojo Harrison. Christian Miller singled in Anderson and notched his third RBI of the night and was followed onto the base path by Brandon Beck who walked after battling the West Laurens pitcher to a full count. Then Clint Taylor hit a mammoth three-run walkoff homerun to steal the victory for the Indians. Taylor was charged with 5 runs on 3 hits with two earned runs and two unearned runs. Miller got the win after pitching one and two thirds of an inning and one run and one unearned run.

Taylor went two for two in the game with two runs scored and a three RBI walkoff homer, his first this season. Miller went two for four with three RBI’s and his second homer of the year.

The Indians host Dublin on Tuesday, April 13 at 6:30 p.m. before traveling to Telfair on Thursday, April 15 at 5:30 p.m. and Bleckley County on Friday, April 16 at 6:00 p.m. Dodge returns home for their final home regular season game on Tuesday, April 20 at 6:00 p.m. against Toombs County.

Congratulate Anderson: Teammates are pictured above congratulating Dodge County Indian Herschel Anderson (#22) after hitting his first home run of the 2010 season in the 4th inning against East Laurens on April 6th. (Photo by Camille Taylor)