Chatham Stops Dover, 12-2

DOVER — The Chatham Cougar baseball team dominated Dover, 12-2, in an away game Monday evening, thanks to a stellar pitching performance that saw starter Brian Ballard take a no-hitter into the fifth inning.

Ballard looked dominant, pitching five innings, recording seven strikeouts and allowing no runs on only two hits.

Both of the hits surrendered by the junior hurler came in his final inning of work, an inning in which Ballard escaped a bases loaded jam with his seventh strikeout of the day.

"Ballard looked very good today," Head Coach Doug Chambers said after the win. "I think [his lack of command late] is from a lack of work this early in the season."

Dover stayed in the game, though, until a myriad of mistakes put the game out of reach.

In the top half of the fourth inning, Chatham (1-1) started its offensive onslaught as junior captain Matt Reader singled to center field, stole second, then advanced to third on a ground ball by catcher Dean Lilley. Reader then advanced home on a wild pitch.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, with Chatham nursing a 2-0 lead, the mistakes again came back get Dover.

Reader walked to load the bases and Dean Lilley doubled, making the score 4-0.

With runners on second and third, back-to-back wild pitches by Dover's Starling Gonzalez forced in two more runs, giving the Cougars a 6-0 advantage.

"We ran the bases exceptionally well today and put a lot of pressure on them," Chambers said. "Good heads up play."

Chatham tacked on another four runs in the top of the sixth with RBI singles by Reader and left fielder James Demato.

But the Cougars weren't done scoring. They added another two runs in the top of the seventh.

Kevin Giannattasio reached first on an error and moved to second on a wild pitch. After a walk to pinch hitter Brandon Magill, Giannattasio scored on yet another Dover wild pitch.

A ground ball to second base by Ballard scored Magill, leading the team to its first win of the season. The team lost, 6-4, to Hackettstown on Thursday.

"We had a deep lineup today and showed no drop-off in production," Chambers added. "I'm very happy with how we played."

Chatham will look to get its second win of the season against Mendham on Tuesday.