Rangers Gunned Down by Outlaws

 The Dayton Rangers failed to win a playoff game for the first time since 1998. The Rangers fell in Round 2 to the Kettering Outlaws by a score of 8-4 on Tuesday night.

      With no available pitchers at game time, Rangers’ manager Jonmarc Lippincott gave the starting nod to centerfielder Clint Wolf. Wolf took awhile to find his groove on the mound, as he walked the first 3 batters of the game. And after Outlaws’ catcher Rick Anderson’s single found the infamous infield lip and hopped over the shortstop, the first two runners of the ballgame crossed the plate. After a groundout to second base, the Outlaws continued to pile on some runs. Doug Schomer doubled in the next run, and once three more batters singled, the Outlaws held an early 6-0 lead.

The Rangers answered with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the first inning. Brian Robinson singled and went to third on a double by Clint Wolf. Jonmarc Lippincott hit a sacrifice fly to center to score the first run of the game for the Rangers. Wolf eventually would score in the inning on a wild pitch.

Despite a rough first inning of work, Wolf settled down and shutout the Outlaws for the next 6 innings, allowing only one base hit during that stretch. In the meantime, the Rangers would cut the lead to 6-4. James Robinson continued his hot hitting by singling in Lippincott in the 3^rd inning. And Clint Wolf would score from third on a popup to the shortstop.

The 2-run deficit would be short-lived however, as the Outlaws singled 3 times in the 8^th inning to produce 2 more insurance runs to preserve Mike Ivers’ complete game victory.

Offensively, the Rangers would led by Jonmarc Lippincott, who went 3-3 with a sacrifice fly. Lippincott batted 1.000 in the playoffs going 6-for-6. James Robinson had 2 hits with 1 RBI. Robinson, who salvaged his batting average in the past weeks, raised his average from .213 to .293 by getting 9 hits in his last 14 at-bats. Clint Wolf also had 2 hits and scored twice. Brent Collinsworth was the only other Rangers batter with 2 hits.

RANGERS "MARKS"

OFFENSE
Jonmarc Lippincott – 3-3, sac fly

Clint Wolf – 2 hits, double
DEFENSE

Jonmarc Lippincott – heads up double-play to get runner rounding third base.

Jake Robinson – diving catch in right field