Dragons Fall to Powerful Indians

With the Green Dragons scratching out a run in the top of the first inning, it gave Brick hope that this could be a night where they would knock off Shore and state power Toms River South.

Facing South ace Chris McKenna on the mound, the Dragons would take runs any way they could get them. Unfortunately, the Dragons would fall behind early, and McKenna shut the bats down.

Following an opening strike out to begin the bottom of the first, Brick pitcher Tim Carney and the Brick defense ran into trouble, watching the next six of seven reach base for the Indians. A high fly ball to center was aided by the wind as it turned into a three run homer. After the inning was over, Brick was down 5-1.

"We felt pretty confident," said Brick head coach Jason Groschel. "We hit the ball well early but gave the lead right back to them."

Tim Carney pitched all six innings for a complete game and, despite getting hit hard early,the senior battled all game.

"He's our guy," said Groschel. "We're going to go with him. We didn't play the best behind him. We're going to run into them again at some point and I'll have confidence in Tim."

Sean Henry and John Kizzman both had solo home runs to round out the scoring for the Dragons.

McKenna and Kyle Driscoll, who pitched the seventh, allowed just six hits all night. No Dragon had more than one hit as the Indian duo combined for eight strikeouts and eight ground outs.

Between the second and fifth inning, McKenna retired 13 Dragons in a row to eat up the middle of the game.

"When he's pitching with the lead, he's tough to beat," said Groschel. "He was throwing a ton of first pitch strikes. He got into a groove and worked quick."

Just as the Dragons disrupted his rhythm in the top of the sixth, sparked by Sean Henry's home run, Tim Carney hit a single and reached second with an error. Cody Schnebel was up next and hit a line drive to center field that was caught with a diving catch to end the inning.

The 5-4 Dragons are now off for a few days before returning to the diamond on Wednesday, April 26 to take on Central Regional, who they defeated in their opener, 9-1.

"We're still in a decent position, only one game back in the 'B' South," said Groschel. "At the same time, I'm not happy with the way we have played lately, we are going to try make improvements."