Diamond Dawgs Outlast U.S. Military All-Stars

The Winter Park Diamond Dawgs rebounded from a tough loss at the hands of the Orlando Suns on Wednesday night and came back from a two-run deficit in the seventh inning to come back and defeat the United States Military All-Stars 6-5 in an exhibition game on Thursday night at Harper-Shepherd Field.

Since it was an exhibition, no official stats count toward the season stats.

The Military All-Stars, who arrived in Central Florida on Wednesday night, were led by Johnny Hernandez (Brooklyn, NY) who finished the game 3-for-3, with two walks, three runs and three RBIs. He was a triple short of the cycle. Hernandez scored the first two runs of the game, in the third off an Ivan Cruz (Cruz Baseball Academy, Jacksonville, Fla.) single and in the fifth through an Eric Santana (Miami, Fla.) RBI groundout. Both runs came off Diamond Dawgs starter Ian Thompson (Stetson) who made his first start of the season. Thompson pitched five complete innings giving up two runs on five hits and striking out three.

Ohmed Danesh (FSU) had a three-run double in the seventh inning that scored Tony Caldwell (Auburn), Bobby Rauh (Daytona Beach College) and Matt Kane (FSU) that made it 3-2. The Dawgs would add three more runs in the eighth after a Matt Kane single scored Eric Kallstrom (UCF) and a Jesse More double scored Rauh and Kane to make it 6-2.

"I was lucky it stayed fair, glad it gave us the lead and it motivated us to get more runs in," said Danesh of his hit.

The Military All-Stars, wouldn’t go quietly as they finally got to Michael Raia (W, South Alabama), who pitched out of jams in the sixth and eighth inning. After Mike Wolf and Ray Judy (LA Dodgers) reached on a walk and an error respectively, Hernandez sent a 2-1 fastball from Raia into the leftovers of Holler Chevrolet to make it a one-run ballgame.

"He was staying away the whole game. When he finally threw it inside, I just took advantage of it, "said Hernandez.

After the Hernandez homer, Raia allowed a double by Cruz, but settled down to strike out the side to give the Dawgs the victory. Raia pitched four complete innings allowing three runs on three hits, while striking out six.

"Before the day started it was just another game for us, guys have to get better, go out there and play and take care of business," said Dawgs’ assistant coach Trevor Berryhill. "A lead is never safe, you have to be aggressive and pound the zone from the mound. After the three run homer, Mike {Raia} settled in and left that guy {Cruz} on second."

USMA starter Jahsan Page (Okinawa, Japan) pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings giving up five hits. Page was outstanding as he pitched out of jams in the second and fourth innings. However, after Page exited the Dawgs really got to Jazwinski.

"I think one thing that we need to improve on is making better pitches in big situations. We are a young team, a little inexperienced, and it shows out there on the field," said Hernandez.

The play of the game came in the bottom of the fifth, with the All-Stars still up 2-0, Hernandez made a Willie Mays like over the shoulder grab off a Sean Morrison ball that looked like it was going to end up on South Denning Avenue.

"I knew it was hit well," said Hernandez. "I had my other outfielders [Elton Shaw and Figueroa] telling me where the ball was."

Winter Park struggled to get into any kind of offensive rhythm until the seventh inning, as six of its ten hits came in the last two innings. Coming into the game, Rauh said many of his teammates didn’t quite know what to expect, but they were going to give there best effort regardless.

"Coming into the game, I didn’t know what to expect. I knew it was going to be real competitive. Both teams want to win. Playing against guys that live and die for the U.S.A, I have lots of respect for them," said Rauh.

Coach Derek Wolfe had the same feelings.

"It’s a great win for us. The Military guys are good. We knew we would have a chance to win at some point. Ohmed came through and got the hit and Raia got it done. We have relaxed a bit, started to enjoy things and come together as a team."

As for the All-Stars, they are now 0-1 on their current seven-game swing through the FCSL. They play at Leesburg Friday. However, Elton Shaw (West Covina, Calif.) seems upbeat.

"We know the caliber of teams and we expect good games for both teams. We entertained the crowd, which was the most important thing. If you are going to be here, you want to win. You want to perform for the crowd and I feel like we did a good job of that tonight."

Winter Park returns to regular season action on Friday against the Clermont Mavericks at Harper-Shepherd Field. Game time is 7 p.m.

Juan Bernal (Rollins College)