HORNELL – In the first three games of the young Hornell Dodgers season, it has seen an instance where a team has rallied from behind to take the victory at the end of the night. It happened to the Dodgers in the first two games of the season, as they fell to 0-2.

On Saturday, they came up with one of their own against Niagara, forcing the 10-run rule to take the 17-7 decision. When the next day came, they did it again.

After trailing 6-1 to the reigning Western Division Champion Olean Oilers, the Dodgers put their bats to good use, scoring eight of the last nine runs of the night, including a five-run eighth inning to complete their rally on Sunday at Maple City Park, as they edged past the visiting Oilers with a 9-7 victory.

“We took the early one run lead, and we could have had more. Then we go back down again,” said Dodgers manager Justin Oney. “We're down 6-1 going back into the dugout in the sixth, and I told them to do the same thing as yesterday. They punched back, and they answered with one run, then two runs, and then our big inning in the eighth. They made everything happen.”

The Dodgers (2-2) found their way onto the board first after two scoreless innings were dealt between both teams, as Jack Henby delivered with a two-out double into center field to score Chris Herb to make it 1-0 through three innings.

Each team would trade a fourth inning of scoreless play before Olean (1-2) mounted a mid-inning rally that began in the fifth, as they tied the ballgame on a solo home run off the bat of Kevin Mooney, his first of the season to deep left field to even the scoring. 

Then the gates would open up in the top of the sixth, as the Oilers scored five runs on three hits in the frame, two of the runs would score on wild pitches after a Dylan Vincent single on error to right field resulted in two RBI, including himself to give the visitors a 6-1 lead, leading to a Hornell pitching change.

“(Alex) Foppe did a really good job. He didn't throw a lot of innings while he was at school, and they just finished up with the World Series,” said Oney. “I knew his arm was in good shape, and he may have been out there one inning too long again, but he's going to keep getting better. You can throw as much as you want in the bullpen, but it's different when you come in the game.”

But all was not lost for the Dodgers, as they punched back with eight of the game's last nine runs starting in the bottom of the sixth, chipping away at Olean's lead slowly but surely with a Colin Johnson two-out double down the left field line to score Herb.

Two more runs came in to score on hits from Tucker Holden, and Matt Martinez, as they deliver an RBI single each to score a run to cut the lead down to 6-4 after seven innings. In the eighth, Olean generated their biggest opportunity of the evening, loading the bases with one out behind relief pitcher Austin Berglund.

But the Dodgers were able to escape the threat, as Berglund got both Vincent, and Ryan Simmons to groundout to leave all the bags loaded. For Oney, it was the turning point to the game.

“Austin keeping Olean away with the bases loaded is huge,” he said. “That was a big turning point in the game, and that gave the guys a spark to get those bats going. We worked on some things over the course of a few days, and he's not one that sees particular situations like this. Seeing him have the success that he had, that gave the guys energy.”

In the bottom half, it allowed the Dodgers to go ahead, as they scored five big runs at the plate. Their first two runs would come home on a wild pitch behind the plate, and a Johnson hit into left center field to score Nick Wimmers to cut the Olean down to 7-6.

On the next at-bat, Hornell would find a way to take the lead as Johnson scored on a triple delivered by Andrew Littlefield to deep right field to tie the game at seven. All three runs were scored by the Dodgers with no outs on the board.

The hosts would then take the lead for good behind Kevin Higgins, who made his Dodgers debut with the biggest RBI for the team, scoring a sacrifice fly into left field to allow Littlefield to score on the play for the 8-7 lead. A piece of insurance came across a short time later as Martinez delivered an RBI single down the left field line.

Olean would not go down without a fight however, as they placed a pair of go-ahead baserunners on. But the Oilers could not provide the timely hit to bring them in, as the Dodgers held on with a game-ending groundout to seal the deal on another come-from-behind victory.

“It's exciting to watch us come and play baseball. For either team, it'll be exciting. I think they're really starting to buy in to what we're offering,” Oney said. “They're grinding out every at-bat, every pitch, and we've kept out the dumb mistakes. We had one today, but they understand the best we can do to minimize those, the better chance we have to come back and win.”

Berglund picked up in relief for the Dodgers, fanning two Olean hitters. Alex Foppe got the start, striking out four and walking three in his five innings. At the plate, Martinez and Johnson both led the way with a pair of hits. Hornell had eight in all in the contest.

It will be a quick turnaround for the Dodgers, as they host the last game of their three-game homestand Monday morning, welcoming in the Genesee Rapids for Kids Day festivities at Maple City Park. First pitch is slated for 11 a.m.

Olean          000 015 010 – 7 8 5
Hornell       001 001 25X – 9 8 1

OLE – Nathan Holt (3K, 3BB), Nate Beimel (7) (K, 3BB), Danny Kirwin (LP, 8) (BB), Kevin Faulkner (8), and Mike Beimel.
HOR – Alex Foppe (4K, 3BB), Spencer Weyand (6) (K, 2BB), Austin Berglund (WP, 7) (2K), Gaetan Sinisgalli (9) (K, BB), and Nick Wimmers.