HORNELL – The Genesee Rapids came out firing on all cylinders right away on the Dodgers, Monday night at Maple City Park, as the final week of regular season action around the NYCBL officially kicked off.

After the top of the third saw Genesee eclipse the 10-run mark, it put the Dodgers in a huge hold to begin the night. In between innings along the third base line, Hornell huddled together for a speech from assistant coach Neil Schaffner.

“Coach Schaffner rallied them up, and gave them a little speech in between innings,” Dodgers manager Justin Oney said. “That's the first time he actually gave the pep talk, and it was a moment where we had to decide if we want to lay down and take the 10-0 deficit, or fight back and see what we could do. I should get Schaff to give a speech every half inning in the game.”

It was a message well received.

The Dodgers went on to score 12 of the next 13 runs in the next four innings of play to complete their rally from 10 down in the bottom of the sixth. But, the Rapids had one last card to play in the top of the ninth, capitalizing on a huge pinch-hit, RBI double from Andrew Geisey that started a two-run frame to allow Genesee to pull ahead for good, shutting down Hornell by handing them a 13-12 loss in a heartbreaker.

“The ninth inning got to us again, but it all started from the beginning,” said Oney. “We have to stop giving up 10 spots in the first two innings to start the game. We changed up things offensively, and pitching wise, we threw Brody (Burdett) out there, and I told him to throw strikes. If we got back into the game, that's great. He threw strikes, and whatever happened after that, happened.”

A four-run, three-hit top of the first kicked things off with a bang for Genesee (15-21-1), led by a lead-off triple off the right center field fence by David Wessells, who scored during the at-bat on an error home. Anthony Azpeitia added a two-run single that dropped in front of Andrew Littlefield in center to help wrap up the frame that saw every Rapids hitter reach the plate.

The Rapids didn't let off the brakes in the next two innings of play, scoring a pair of three-run frames, with the second led by a two-run single by Ray Tricarico, helping them extend their lead to seven. The lead ultimately reached double digits in the third, as Andrew Hanna recorded a two-run hit of his own, this one on a single into left, scoring Wessells and Caleb Edman to make it 10-0.

After a team huddle near the dugout in between innings, Hornell (13-19-2) came alive with a six-run, five-hit bottom of the third, started off with a lead-off triple over the head of Wessells in right field. Three pitches later, he became the first run for the Dodgers on Kevin Higgins' groundout to the right side.

It created a ripple effect through the entire Dodgers lineup, as they gathered four more hits in the inning, led by Sean Flannery's huge two-out, two-run single into left field, dropping before a sliding grab can be made on the play, resulting in a pair of runs scoring to cut the Genesee lead from nine to four entering the next three inning set.

Genesee was able to extend their lead back out to five, but then the lead was lost from the bottom of the fourth to the sixth, as Hornell scored six unanswered runs. In the fifth, the Dodgers sliced the Rapids advantage to a single run with assistance from Andrew Littlefield, who crushed an absolute rocket to right field with two runners aboard, exiting the field for a three-run homer to make it 11-10.

“We had a lot of key hits in that stretch, and they were some hits that we could manage to get the past couple of games or so,” said Oney. “It felt like Andrew had every RBI for us, and I'm sure that's not accurate, but every time he got to the plate, he was batting guys in any way he could. Everyone else stepped up with a big hit of their own, including Matt (Martinez) coming out of his slump with a few big hits.”

Martinez himself came through big time a short time later in the inning. Facing a 2-2 pitch, he kept the offense moving with a single that dropped into center field, plating Josh Laurie along the way to tie the ballgame at 11-all after five innings.

The Dodgers found their way into the driver's seat for the first time all night long one inning of offense later, as Littlefield recorded his fourth RBI of the night on a single into center, plating Higgins, who moved over to third on a wild pitch toward the Rapids dugout.

Each team went back and forth through the next two innings of play, with the Dodgers leaning on reliever Austin Berglund, who held Genesee in check with a pair of quick innings behind his three strikeouts. But then, the wheels fell off in the top of the ninth, as the Rapids scored two crucial runs with Andrew Geisey delivering with a pinch-hit, two-out double down the left field line to tie the game at 12.

Geisey would find his way to third on a wild pitch before coming in on a sacrifice fly to deep center field by Wessells, giving Genesee the 13-12 lead again.

“It was a hit-by-pitch, stolen base, and then a double down the line to tie the game,” said Oney. “Bergy was a little out of gas, and we were able to get Borman out there, and he gave us a fighting chance by getting back to the dugout in the ninth. We came out with big at-bats there, Colin got on with a walk, but we couldn't find the gap to bring him in.”

Then, the Rapids got the ninth inning to work out in their favor, despite giving up a lead-off walk to Colin Johnson, as closer Joey Baker shut the door on the Dodgers with the next three batters at the plate going down in order to wrap up the victory for the visitors.

Higgins and Littlefield each led the Dodgers with a 3-for-6 outing at the plate, with Littlefield tallying his four RBI, and two runs scored. Johnson and Laurie each had two hits, while Martinez chipped in with two RBI. On the mound, Alex Foppe struck out two and walked three in his start that lasted into the third inning.

The big hope for Oney and the Dodgers is that, despite the loss, the offense created a spark to carry into Tuesday night's game over the road, as they take one of their last two road trips of the season to Sal Maglie Stadium in Niagara Falls to take on the Western Division champion Niagara Power.

Jake Dunn is slated to get the start for Hornell on the hill.

“I still think it could be a momentum-grabber, despite losing,” Oney said. “They had the bats going down the stretch, and that could get us going for the rest of the way. I hope Jake comes out and pounds the zone early, and lets the adrenaline take over. We used a lot of arms tonight, more than I expected, but when we battled back, we went back to our bullpen. Hopefully Jake can take us fairly deep tomorrow.”

Genesee   433 100 002 – 13 14 1
Hornell      006 141 000 – 12 12 3  

GEN – Michael Reese (K, 3BB), Zach Guzi (3) (BB), Ozzie Rodriguez (4) (K, 4BB), Jack Powell (6) (2K, BB), Preston Stanley (7) (2K, BB), Joshua Simon (8) (2BB), Jonathan Nagle (WP, 8) (K, BB), Joey Baker (S, 9) (K), and Ray Tricarico.
HOR – Alex Foppe (2K, 3BB), Brody Burdett (3) (3K, 2BB), Austin Berglund (LP, 7) (3K), Dakota Borman (2K, BB), and Nick Wimmers.