The
Dayton Rangers spoiled the MVABL debut of the Dayton Aviators, winning 9-3 on Sunday
night at Rotary Park.
The Rangers scored two runs in each of the 1st,
2nd, and 4th innings, all with two outs registered. In the first inning, Aviators starter Brad Shaeffer
struck out the first two batters of the game, before Clint Wolf reached on a
fielder’s choice. Jonmarc Lippincott doubled in Wolf for the first run of the
game. Lippincott then scored on Brad Clark’s single to right. Rookie Justin McCurdy picked up his first
career hit, an RBI triple, in the second and came around to score on Jacob
Robinson’s single to give the Rangers a 4-0 lead. The Rangers increased the
lead to 6-0 in the fourth as Jake singled in Jared Bradley and McCurdy scored
on a balk. Jeremy Lippincott’s RBI groundout in the fifth made it a 7-0
ballgame.
The Aviators scored their
first franchise run in the bottom of the fifth when Jesse Brown grounded out to
short, scoring Nathan Marker from third.
McCurdy’s second RBI triple of the night scored Bradley in
the top of the 6th. McCurdy later scored on a Jelani Arnold grounder.
With a 9-1 lead, the Aviators answered with two runs in the bottom of the 6th.
Tony Antku led off with a walk, followed up by a single from Nathan Pope.
Jeremy Kilgore and Brad Shaeffer each grounded out to plate Antku and Pope in
succession.
Brad Clark pitched six effective innings for the Rangers,
allowing three runs on five hits with three strikeouts. Reis Pearson came on in
relief of Clark in the 7th and pitched three scoreless innings,
striking out two. Brad Shaeffer took the loss for the Aviators (0-1). Dan
Slaton was outstanding in relief of Shaeffer, not allowing a hit in four innings of work, striking out four.
Offensive performances of note: Justin McCurdy 3-4, 2
triples, 3 runs, 2RBI; Jonmarc Lippincott 2-3, double, run, RBI; Jacob Robinson
2-3 2RBI, SB; Jared Bradley 2-4, 2 runs; Brad Clark 2-3 RBI.