One rough inning was all it took for the Doncaster Dragons to fall short against the Newport Rams at Deep Creek on Saturday.
The Dragons did a lot of things right, but they came away on the wrong end of a 6-3 score.
Starting pitcher Matt Josselyn gave his team another quality start, pitching seven innings and allowing three earned runs, with eight strikeouts. And relievers Marcel D’Avoine and Brian Chen each chipped in with a scoreless inning.
There were also some fine defensive plays. Chen started a rapid-fire 5-4-3 double play, and right fielder Aimon Dowling fired off a terrific throw to nail a runner at third base.
Doncaster looked impressive early, getting off to a flying start when leadoff batter Brendan McDonald launched a home run over the left field fence. After Chen singled, Jean Alvarado doubled and Callum Lethborg hit an RBI groundout, the Dragons had an early 2-1 lead.
They added another run in the second inning as Dowling singled and scored on McDonald’s double.
But that was the end of the scoring for the home side, as Newport starter David Tongue and reliever Kyle Morrison combined to pitch around seven baserunners over the final seven innings to keep the Dragons from scoring again.
A four-run sixth inning by the Rams did the damage, giving them a 6-3 lead that they held for the rest of the game.
“A couple of things didn’t quite go our way in the sixth and it cost us,” McDonald said.
“A 1-3 record probably isn’t an accurate reflection of how well we’ve played to start the season. We’ve got a few things to work on but we’ve played plenty of good baseball against some tough opponents.
“We’re making other teams work really hard to get us out and that’ll hold us in good stead as we ramp up to two games a week.”
The Dragons travel to take on Moorabbin next Saturday at 4pm before playing their first midweek game of the season against Williamstown on Tuesday night, with first pitch slated for 6.15pm.
Doncaster Baseball Club 