DC falls in extras in Ripken League opener

Washington, D.C - The DC Grays dropped an extra-inning decision to the Southern Maryland Senators on Monday night at the Washington Nationals Youth Academy, falling 6-3 in ten innings in its opening game of the Cal Ripken Sr. Collegiate Baseball League season.   
The game was defined by repeated missed opportunities for the home team, as the Grays failed on several occasions to add to an early lead – and a promising start turned into a late inning heart-breaker.
D.C gave the ball to right-hander Diego Barrett (Potomac State). Barrett started off the first inning strong, setting down the Senators in order.  The Senators sent out Brendan Wall (UAB) to duel with Barret.  

Kaleb Willis (Lafayette) led off the first inning for the Grays with a hustling double, as a shallow popup landed in left field. It seemed as if the Grays were in prime position early. Unfortunately, the leadoff double didn’t faze Wall as he retired the next three batters including two swinging strikeouts. 
The second inning went almost as smoothly as the first for Barrett; he allowed a single, but it didn’t come back to bite him as he got a tailor-made double play ball for a 6-4-3 putout to end the frame.
The Grays made some noise in the bottom half of the second as Joe Marini (Catholic) worked a four pitch walk. Wall retired the next two batters, but Marini stole second and a groundout to short by Steve Thomas (Catholic) allowed him to advance to third. With two outs Justin Grech (Lafayette) wasted no time getting Marini home as he attacked the first pitch he saw, sending a hard grounder to third. Grech hustled down the line and a poor throw pulled Senators first sacker Joe Stanzione (Gardner Webb) off the first base bag and gave the D.C Grays an early 1-0 lead. The play rattled Wall as he walked the next batter he faced, and then proceeded to plunk Willis after that. The bases were then loaded for Henry Zipay (Nebraska-Omaha) who couldn’t capitalize – striking out and stranding all three runners. 

The Grays threatened again in the bottom half of the third. With one out in the inning Evan Bouldin (Delaware State) singled past third base. Bouldin’s single ended Wall’s night, as the Senators brought in Matt Lynch (Towson) for relief.  Marini ripped a triple, scoring Bouldin from first. Thomas then hit a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Marini from third.  The Grays took a 3-0 lead heading into the fourth. 
The Senators answered in the following frame.  Brandon Wingenroth (Penn State) doubled, moved to third on a sac fly by Matt Ilgenfritz (Gardner Webb) and scored on sac fly by Patrick Ward (FAU), giving Southern Maryland its first run of the night. Barrett found his groove again and escaped further damage. 

The Grays managed to load the bases once more in the bottom half of the fifth but were once again thwarted.  Justin Naylor came on in relief for the Senators (Cal-Penn) and induced a fly ball to right field off the bat of Willis for the final out of the inning.  
Sam Stratton (Wofford) came in to pitch the sixth for the Grays ending a solid night for Diego Barrett who only allowed one earned run and struck out six through five innings of work. Disaster struck Stratton and the Grays early however, as Stratton walked Griffith and allowed a single to Ilgenfritz. A sacrifice fly by Mikey Guy (Frostburg State) brought Griffith home, cutting the Gray's led to one. Stanzione then hit a double allowing Ward to score, knotting the game at 3 apiece.
The game remained tied through the ninth, thanks to some excellent relief work by Lucky Perroto (Catholic) for the Grays and Naylor for the Senators.    

In the bottom of the ninth the Grays had another prime opportunity to score and send the Senators packing. Steve Thomas managed to reach second, but was thrown out at third to end the inning – a baserunning blunder that would prove costly. 
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Perrotto struck out the first batter in the tenth. Ilgenfritz then reached first on a single and went to second on a balk by Perrotto. Ward reached on an error – putting runners on the corners with one out.  Guy cleared the bases with a long double – giving the visitors their first lead of the night.  The Senators tacked on another insurance run to give them a 6-3 lead. Senators closer John Gray (Wofford) shut the door on any hopes that D.C might have had. 
The Grays will try to break into the win column on Tuesday evening, when they welcome Olney Cropdusters to DC.