Dragons drop 15 runs on Stallions for second straight win

The Dragons scored five runs in the first inning and did not look back after that, using their lineup from top to bottom en route to beating the Saugerties Stallions on Friday night at East Field by a final score of 15-3.

The Dragons sent 10 batters to the plate in the first as three of them picked up hits, and eight of the 10 reached base in the inning. The frame was highlighted by an RBI single from Brandon Torres and a two-run single off the bat of Cullen Cicotte.

They weren’t done there, though. It was Torres coming up big once again in the second inning as he blasted a two-run home run over the fence in left field to extend the Dragon lead to seven runs before six outs had been made by the Saugerties pitching staff.

“It’s huge because when we score first, we put pressure on the other team and force them to make mistakes, so we do what we have to do to keep tacking on runs,” Torres said.

He went 3-4 on the night with four RBIs and two runs scored including his team-leading fourth home run of the season, becoming a big part of the offense on Friday.

The Dragons would tack on another run in the fourth inning to make the score 8-0 in their favor.

While the offense was having one of their best games of the season, starter James Varela was on cruise control on the mound for Glens Falls. He threw a dominant six innings while allowing just one run on three hits, walked only one and struck out eight, averaging more than one per inning. Throwing strikes was a major part of his success, as he had only two three-ball counts the entire night.

“He was pounding the zone, and that allowed us to keep the momentum going offensively also, the way he was throwing strikes, keeping the defense in and getting them back in the dugout to hit. He was the right guy to have on the mound tonight for sure,” Dragons manager Cameron Curler said.

The Stallions did find the scoreboard in the sixth inning following an RBI single from Matt Forlow. They tacked on another pair of runs in the seventh inning on a bases-loaded walk and grabbing a run on an infield ground ball that made it 9-3 at the time.

The Dragons kept scoring though. They got two runs in the seventh inning on a pair of RBI doubles off the bats of Dan Lowndes and Brian Uliana. They scored four more in the eighth inning while batting around for the second time in the game headlined by a “Little League Home Run” from Matt Hamel that scored three and an RBI single from Dalton Ney to cap off their 15-run night.

“We thought we did a good job building off yesterday,” Curler said. “We did exactly what we needed to do tonight.”

The Dragons improve to 12-23 on the season following their second straight win. They have Saturday off but will play again on Sunday on the road as they take on the Mohawk Valley Diamond Dawgs in Little Falls, with the start time being 7 p.m., which is their last game before the All-Star break. They will return home on Wednesday as they face the Oneonta Outlaws. That game will also begin at 7 p.m.

The Stallions fall to 15-18 on the campaign. They will be back in action on Saturday as they have a tilt with the same Mohawk Valley Diamond Dawgs at home. That game will start at 7 p.m.