The Wichita Titans committed four errors Friday night at Cavalier Field and paved the way for the third straight win for the Dodge City Athletics.
Walking only two Wichita hitters, the Dodge pitching staff hurled a scoreless game en route to the 6-0 win.
"The pitchers did a good job getting the ball put in play," A's manager Jeremy Irlbeck said. "We only walked two guys all night. It's a lot easier to play defense when the ball's put in play and the pitcher has a good rhythm."
Cunningham got the start and his first win of the season (1-2) for the A's after going five innings while giving up four hits and tallying six strikeouts.
Both teams were held scoreless though until the bottom of the fifth inning, when Dodge finally plated the game's first run. Center fielder Landon Anderson hit a double to left-center, scoring Dodge City native Max Taylor, who reached on a single.
In the following inning, the A's added three more runs and took a 4-0 lead when first baseman Matt Kempin started the Dodge rally with an RBi-triple to center field. After a fielding error by Wichita shortstop Matt Meyer, Kempin came around to score Dodge's second run of the inning.
The error by Meyer, who is a summer intern and former player for Dodge City and was only helping the Titans because they were short a player, was the first of two Titan errors in the inning. Wichita committed four total on the night.
"Whenever the other team is going to give you an extra out, give you an extra baserunner or whatever it is, you got to find a way to push that run across, and tonight we were able to do that," Irlbeck said. "Anytime you get an opportunity to get a free run you need to take it."
The A's scored a run in the seventh and then their sixth and final run in the eighth as Dodge relievers Derek Brooks, Cruz Sedillo and Josh Wilson continued to pitch scoreless baseball.
Dodge (7-5, 3-5 Jayhawk League) will face the Hays Larks tonight at 7 p.m. at Cavalier Field in the first of a two-game weekend series.
Reach Keith Jenkins at (620) 408-9909 or e-mail him at keith.jenkins@dodgeglobe.com.
"The pitchers did a good job getting the ball put in play," A's manager Jeremy Irlbeck said. "We only walked two guys all night. It's a lot easier to play defense when the ball's put in play and the pitcher has a good rhythm."
Cunningham got the start and his first win of the season (1-2) for the A's after going five innings while giving up four hits and tallying six strikeouts.
Both teams were held scoreless though until the bottom of the fifth inning, when Dodge finally plated the game's first run. Center fielder Landon Anderson hit a double to left-center, scoring Dodge City native Max Taylor, who reached on a single.
In the following inning, the A's added three more runs and took a 4-0 lead when first baseman Matt Kempin started the Dodge rally with an RBi-triple to center field. After a fielding error by Wichita shortstop Matt Meyer, Kempin came around to score Dodge's second run of the inning.
The error by Meyer, who is a summer intern and former player for Dodge City and was only helping the Titans because they were short a player, was the first of two Titan errors in the inning. Wichita committed four total on the night.
"Whenever the other team is going to give you an extra out, give you an extra baserunner or whatever it is, you got to find a way to push that run across, and tonight we were able to do that," Irlbeck said. "Anytime you get an opportunity to get a free run you need to take it."
The A's scored a run in the seventh and then their sixth and final run in the eighth as Dodge relievers Derek Brooks, Cruz Sedillo and Josh Wilson continued to pitch scoreless baseball.
Dodge (7-5, 3-5 Jayhawk League) will face the Hays Larks tonight at 7 p.m. at Cavalier Field in the first of a two-game weekend series.
Reach Keith Jenkins at (620) 408-9909 or e-mail him at keith.jenkins@dodgeglobe.com.
A's Box Score
Score By Innings 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Wichita 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 4
Dodge City 0 0 0 0 1 3 1 1 X 6 11 0
Dodge City (7-5, 3-5 Jayhawk League)
PLAYER AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
CF Landon Anderson3 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0
CF Chris Winder 2 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0
SS Troy Larson 5 1 1 0 0 1 3 4 3
3B Oscar Sigala 5 1 1 0 0 1 0 2 3
RF Matt Kempin 4 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1
1B Zach Atkins 4 1 0 1 0 0 7 0 1
DH Mark Radmacher3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
C Jenzen Torres 2 0 0 0 0 0 7 1 0
C Brad Cochrane 2 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0
LF Max Taylor 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
2B David Bustillos 3 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1
TOTALS 36 6 11 4 0 3 27 7 9
Wichita (7-5)
PLAYER AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
CF Casey Schweninger30 3 0 1 0 3 0 0
SS Matt Meyer 4 0 1 0 0 1 2 4 0
2B Dallas Fenn 4 0 2 0 0 1 2 0 2
RF JB Hall 4 0 1 0 0 2 1 0 3
DH Brett Hutton 3 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0
3B Kyler Konda 4 0 0 0 0 4 2 6 0
C Steve Chrapkowski3 0 0 0 0 2 4 1 0
1B Chris Guerrero 3 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 2
LF Nick Abbot 3 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0
TOTALS 31 0 7 0 2 13 24 11 7
E - Meyer 2; Fenn; Guerrero. DP - Titans 2; A's 2. LOB - Titans 7; A's 9. 2B Anderson(3); Radmacher(2). 3B - Fenn; Kempin(1). HBP - Chrapkowski; Taylor; Bustillos. SH - Radmacher(3). CS - Schweninger. WIN - Cunningham (1-2). LOSS - VandeHey. SAVE - NONE.
