By D. Matt Dale
MaxPreps.com
Delaware
: Hodgson Baseball Heating Up
Undefeated Dickinson (10-0) faced a strong Hodgson (13-1) squad in a match-up of two of the state's top baseball teams Thursday evening.
Dickinson was responsible for Hodgson's only loss of the season, a convincing 10-5 victory less than two weeks ago.
The Eagles proved hungry for revenge, jumping to an early lead by taking advantage of Ram pitching woes.
Dickinson starting pitcher Matt Klaczkiewicz gave up four two-out walks resulting in a three-run first inning for the Eagles. Dan Eby hurt Dickinson with a RBI single, while the other two runs scored on walks with the bases loaded.
Dickinson answered in the bottom of the inning when Steve Miller laced a RBI single to make it a 3-1 game.
The Rams were at it again in the third when Hodgson pitcher Dain Thorpe loaded the bases after surrendering a single followed by two walks.
Rich O’Donald hit a RBI single to cut the deficit to 3-2 and left the bases loaded with one out. Thorpe managed to retire the next two batters to end the inning.
Thorpe found himself in trouble again in the fourth inning as the Rams began to capitalize on every opportunity. Jason Powell hit a lead-off double, followed by a walk to Klaczkiewicz.
It looked like Thorpe would again dodge a bullet after he retired the next two batters.
Dan Schafferman proved the third time was the charm for Dickinson by hitting a RBI single to tie the game. Steve Miller followed Schafferman's performance by knocking in his second RBI single of the day; scoring Schafferman to give Dickinson a 4-3 lead.
O’Donald would have continued the Rams onslaught if he had not been robbed by D.J. Wood, who made an amazing catch at the fence to end the inning.
Klaczkiewicz shook his first-inning jitters, giving up just three hits and striking out 11 before being replaced by Steve Miller in the fifth inning.
With Dickinson holding on to a 4-3 lead in the seventh inning, Hodgson’s Eric Amalfitano hit a led off single up the middle. Matt Aleman hit a sacrifice bunt resulting in a Dickinson error. Bryan Reshetar forced a walk to load the bases, and Donnie Witte knocked in two runs to give Hodgson a 5-4 lead.
Dickinson gave the mound to Matt Francisco who fell victim to a suicide squeeze RBI from Eby.
Sean Baeder shut down the Rams in the seventh and Hodgson earned a hard-fought, 6-4 victory.
Hodgson repeated its success in a solid victory over Caravel (8-2) on Saturday, improving to 15-1 on the season.
Hodgson has replaced Caravel at the top of The News Journal's state rankings.
Boys Lacrosse: Tatnall, Tower Hill Down Wilmington Friends
Wilmington Friends hosted a familiar Tower Hill opponent last Wednesday.
The Hillers were coming off a tough loss to Worcester Prep (Md.) the previous Friday, and were looking to avenge an 8-7 loss to the Quakers earlier in the season.
Tower Hill hit the ground running and went into halftime with a 6-3 advantage. Wilmington Friends heated up as the game progressed, but the Quakers were unable to take the lead as the Hillers issued payback in the form of an 11-8 road victory.
Tyler Luft led Tower Hill in scoring with four goals, while Timmons terrorized the Quaker defense, scoring two goals and adding four assists.
Although three Quakers players scored two goals a piece (Bryan Radacosky-Pentoney, Ernest Higginbotham, Eric Kelley), Wilmington Friends walked away with a disappointing three-goal loss.
The rebound effort wasn't much better as Wilmington Friends traveled to Tatnall to take on head coach Peter Duncan's resilient Hornets. Tatnall's 4-4 record was carved from one of the state's toughest schedules.
Tatnall goalie Robert Schluter shutout Wilmington Friends in the first half, helping the Hornets grab a 5-0 halftime lead.
The Quakers came alive after the break, scoring four goals in both the third and fourth quarters. Although Wilmington Friends outscored Tatnall 8-4 in the second half, it was too little, too late. Tatnall improved to 5-4 with a close 9-8 victory over the Quakers.
Wilmington Friend’s Robert DeeWees led all players in scoring with four goals.
The Hornets gave a strong team effort to get the win, with three players (Samuel Jacobs, Shane Morrell, Bradford Loizeaux) scoring twice.
Wilmington Friends' goalie Austin Kirk held Tatnall to nine goals on 42 shots.
The Quakers and Hornets will see each other again in a Wednesday rematch.
Girls Soccer: Riders Take Advantage of Struggling Padua
Caesar Rodney improved to 9-0 with a huge win over Padua on Friday night.
The Riders went up 2-0 in the first half thanks to goals from sophomore Jazmine Reeves and freshman Courtney Hahn.
Padua struggled to generate scoring opportunities against the Riders' stingy defense and goaltender Holly Thompson.
The Pandas shortened the gap after halftime as Courtney Rhodes finally put one past Thompson to cut the deficit to 2-1.
The Riders answered back with Reeves second goal of the night off an assist from Kayla Jachimowski to give Rodney a two-goal, 3-1 lead.
Padua stuck around with a goal from Lawler near the 77th minute, but the Riders would not be denied. T. Rossi answered with insurance just over a minute later to put the game out of reach at 4-2.
Before the end of regulation, Jachimowski added a goal for good measure off an assist from Reeves to end the game 5-2 in favor of the Riders.
The loss marks the third-straight game without a victory for the once nationally-ranked Pandas. After having their 33-game win streak snapped by St. Mark's in a 3-2 loss last Friday, Padua could only manage a 1-1 tie against A.I. DuPont the following Monday.
At 6-2-1, the Pandas will need to turn things around if they hope to win their third consecutive state championship.
