The Generals and the Rams locked into a tight battle for 6 full innings but a 5 run 7th allowed the Generals to pull away. Jeff Jensen went the distance for the Generals to record the win giving up 9 hits with 1 walk and 5 K's.Matt Warden made only his second ITL start for the Rams, he pitched 6-1/3rd giving up 11 hits, 6 earned runs with just 2 walks and 10K's! Matt pitched better than his line shows as 4 of the hits and 5 of the runs came in the 7th inning. Offensively for the Rams Ralph Renzulli and Gordon Breidenbach both contributed 2 hits. For the Generals, Tom Jones had 3 hits & 2 RBI while Maloney, Vitale and Painchaud each added 2 hits.
Warden retired the first 4 batters of the game via strike out. Later in the second, Jones delivered an RBI double to give the Generals the 1-0 lead. In the bottom the the second with the Rams threatening, the Generals turned a nifty, and rare, 5-3-6 double play. In the fourth the Generals needed some nice defense again to get out of a jam. With the bases loaded and two outs Bryan Vitale was able to snap the 3-0 pitch to first to pick off a runner that ended the threat.
In the fifth the Generals added one more to take a 2-0 lead. Justin Tilley made a nice hustle play on the bases as he beat a throw to second base on a double play ball. An high throw to first allowed Jim Maloney to score from third. Vitale added an RBI double to deep center in the seventh that scored Tilley on a close play at the plate to spark the 5 run inning. Jensen, who kept his pitch count down, was able to finish off the Rams in the seventh.Vitale Doubles to Center.
All together this was a well played, competitive and well pitched game with only 3 walks issued on the night.
The 2 teams will meet twice more this week, Wednesday @ Eiras Field in Rowley and Thursday @ Patton Park in Hamilton. Both games start at 5:45pm
