Sinnen’s blast lifts Grayswitha 4-2 win

6-12-15 GAME RECAP

By: Anna Dunlavey  @annadunlavey

Rain and winds threatened before the start of Friday nights game, but the Grays persevered and got a win. The Grays beat the Vienna River Dogs 4-2 at the Nationals Youth Academy and brought their record up to 4-3 on the season.

The Grays also saw their first home run of the season, hit by DH Kurt Sinnen (Old Dominion) in the fifth inning.

​1B Scott Sanders (Sotheastern Louisiana) went 2-3 with a run scored and two RBI, and he got his work started in the game’s first inning. 3B Keifer Rawlings (Bucknell) got to first on an error and stole second, and Sanders blasted the first hit of the game, a double, to bring him home. Sanders himself scored on a double from SS Jackson Kramer (Lafayette).

In the bottom of the third, CF Brian Baquer (Washington College) doubled, and Sanders singled to score him.

​Sinnen lead off the inning in the top of the fifth, right after a River Dogs pitching change. Sinnen swung at the first pitch he was thrown, and the ball sailed over the right field fence and out of the park.

​Starting pitcher Maverik Buffo (Brigham Young) was very good, striking out five batters over 3.2 innings. Unfortunately, Buffo had to leave the game with a minor ankle injury after colliding with a River Dogs runner sliding into home plate. Lefty Dan Jarrell (Washington C0llege) took over, and pitched 3.1 innings of solid relief. The River Dogs went down in order in the fourth and fifth innings, but in the sixth, a runner reached first on an error and later scored. Ryan Garner (Memphis) pitched 1.2 innings, but after a River Dogs player walked and stole second, Reid Frazier (Penn State) was called on to get the final out in the eighth. Marlon Pruitt (Grambling State) pitched the top of the ninth and got the save.

​Tonight, the Grays will travel to Herndon High School to face the Herndon Braves. The last time the Braves and the Grays met, the Grays won the season opener 6-2. Jarred Scott (Alabama Southern CC) is the Grays’ expected starting pitcher.