By Lonnie Turner

Friday, April 25
Pepsi-Cola Blue Jays 2, Burger King Braves 1

Kyle Rowell struck out 13 batters and allowed two hits on his way to beating the Braves, 2-1, and D.J. Brogden in a Minor League pitchers duel Friday evening.

Brogden whiffed 11 and gave up only one hit in a losing cause and belted a home run for Burger King. The win by the Blue Jays put them into a tie for first place with both teams sporting 3-1 records after two weeks of play.

The Jays scored both runs in the first inning when the first two batters, Jeremy Byrd and Holden Matthews, worked Brogden for two of his six bases on balls given up in the game. Nigel George drove in Byrd on a fielder’s choice and Matthews later scored before George was put out at the plate on an attempted steal. Lexi Martin beat out a slow roller to third to lead off the second inning for the other hit for Burger King.

Dillon Meat Center Reds 13, Dillon Internal Medicine Yankees 1

Jared Ivey blasted two home runs and drove in three runs to lead the Reds to a 13-1 victory over the Yankees in the first of two Major League games on Friday. Collin Hamilton also had multiple hits, driving in two runs with a single and a double in two official times at bat. He walked and scored in the first on a one out single by Barnes Causey. Knox Jackson singled home the last two runs to cap a 5-run first.

The Reds took an 11-0 lead in the second, scoring six runs on four hits, including Ivey’s first blast over the left field fence. Malachi Bember also singled and scored in the inning.

The Yankees avoided the shutout in the bottom of the third when BoBo McKinnon singled with the bases loaded. Dudney was the winning pitcher and Huggins-Bruce took the loss.

Dillon Family Dental Giants 5, The Feed and Farm Rangers 1

The Giants were 5-1 winners over the Rangers in the nightcap to finish the second full week of play in a tie with the Hurricanes for the league lead.

Nick Evans put the Giants ahead in the first inning to stay with a double that scored Quentin Hunt and Chandler Matthews. Kody McDowell led off the fourth inning for the Rangers with a base hit, John Rourke was served an intentional walk, and Trent Johnson beat out an infield hit to set the stage for the only run scored. Jackson Stone followed Johnson and was hit by a pitch.

With the score 2-1 going into the bottom of the fifth inning, the first two Giants were retired on strikes, but consecutive fielding errors put Noah Carter and Quentin Hunt on base and Chandler Matthews singled scoring Carter. Nick Evans followed with his third hit of the game, driving the ball to the right field corner for a triple, scoring Matthews.

Evans was called on to pitch the final inning and faced only three batters. After the Giants recorded the first out, John Rourke singled, but was thrown out at second on an attempted steal. Evans struck out the final batter to earn the save for starting and winning pitcher Noah Carter.