Brownlee's Hit Lifts Madison Baseball In Extra Innings

LIVINGSTON -- It was a game that had everything - home runs, multiple bases-loaded jams, controversial calls, timely hitting, a coach returning to face his old team, and extra innings. Even better for Mickey Ennis and the Madison baseball team, the Dodgers left with a much-needed victory.

Alex Brownlee's eighth-inning RBI single proved to be the game-winning hit, and Madison defeated Newark Academy, 9-7, in extra innings Saturday afternoon at Newark Academy.

Tom Tracy and Mike Haughey each homered for the Dodgers (9-12). Connor Allen, who pitched the final 1 2/3 innings, picked up the win. Madison led most of the way, gave up the lead in the seventh inning, but rebounded to win for the first time in more than a week.

"We fought back," Brownlee said. "You give credit to them for making good plays to get back in it, but we did what we had to and then Connor shut them down."

Madison pitchers walked 11 batters - including three in the fifth and four in the seventh - and got into trouble in every inning from the fourth onward. But a few gutty outs - and some timely hitting - kept the Dodgers from falling behind.

Leading 7-5 heading into the bottom of the seventh, Jamie Hunter retired the first batter he faced. But Hunter struggled with his control, throwing just a third of his pitches for strikes and walking the next two. Ennis replaced Hunter with eventual winning pitcher Connor Allen, who walked the first two batters he faced, allowing a run and putting Newark Academy's winning run in scoring position with one out.

"I was disappointed with the 11 walks," Ennis said. "We're not good enough usually to overcome 11 walks. But sometimes you have to be happy with a bad win over a good loss. And we'll certainly take it."

David Webster hit a humpback line drive to shortstop Jake Meister, who stepped on second for the force. His throw to first was not in time, though, and the Minutemen tied the score at 7-7.

Allen escaped further trouble by inducing a flyout from Adam Seltzer, sending the game to extra innings. There, Madison's top of the order was the catalyst for a rally, as it had been all game.

The top four hitters - Mike Wulff, Brownlee, Tracy and Hunter - combined to go 7-for-17 with three walks and five extra base hits. They drove in seven runs and scored six. Wulff, who had been called up from junior varsity to get an opportunity leading off and playing left field, had an impressive game, reaching four times - twice on a double, once via a walk, and once by error.

"He's been performing very well on the junior varsity level," Ennis said. "We gave him an opportunity at the top of our order today and he delivered. We gave him that opportunity for good reason, I think."

"I'm just trying to get on base as a leadoff hitter," Wulff said. "Put the ball in play, just get on anyway you can."

In the eighth, Wulff reached with a double to the gap in left center, and Brownlee followed by hitting a 1-1 fastball to shallow center. Newark Academy centerfielder David Webster put a strong throw to get Wulff, but it was cut off and Madison led, 8-7.

"It was a relief (to get the hit)," Brownlee said. "I was looking for something good to hit, and just to get some solid contact."

Tracy moved Brownlee to second and Hunter was intentionally walked. With Allen at the plate, Minutemen pitcher Zach Taffet threw over to first. His throw went wide and rolled to a fence near the out-of-bounds line. Umpires originally called the ball out of play and ruled that Brownlee, who scored from second without a throw, had to go back to third.

After a short argument with Ennis - who coached at Newark Academy for two seasons prior to coming to Madison - the umpires reversed the call, and Madison had a valuable insurance run.

"It was originally a dead ball," Ennis said. "It's hard to tell where the (out-of-bounds) line is, and possibly the umpires forgot about it. The ball was clearly inside the line, so I thought we had a shot at winning the argument. I'm glad they got the call right."

Allen put the game away without much incident in the bottom of the eighth, striking out Patrick McMahon for the final out.

It was a satisfying win for Ennis, who spoke with his former players and assistant coaches prior to and after the game and had kind words for his old school.

"I left after last season on very good terms with the administration, players, coaches and parents," Ennis said. "I think the world of all those kids. I also happen to think the world of my kids now, too."

The Dodgers needed late-game heroics to pick up what was looking to be a fairly straightforward win for most of the game.

Madison took control with a five-run fourth inning featuring two long home runs and a bottom-of-the-order rally. It started with Mike Haughey's solo shot, a towering fly ball that landed just over the left field fence, which tied the game at 3-3.

After No. 8 and 9 hitters Connor Higgins and Dilan Kluge reached on a walk and a single, Wulff drove them both in with a double to deep right center. Two batters later, Tracy drilled a 1-1 pitch well over the fence in left to make it 7-3.

"Tom's hit was probably the farthest I've seen someone hit a ball on this field," Ennis said. "There was no doubt about that one. It was a very impressive home run."

Higgins, the Dodgers' starter, was the only one of four Madison pitchers without control issues Saturday. He walked just one batter and struck out four in four innings, allowing four runs - two unearned, thanks to some early defensive miscues. He left with a 7-4 lead, but the Dodger bullpen allowed one in the fifth and two in the seventh to force the extra frames.

Higgins escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fourth, getting Webster to hit a fly ball to medium center. Kyle Flanagan did the same in the fifth, walking three but striking out Randall Keur to end the threat.

Hunter did allow a run on a ground-rule double, but escaped the sixth inning without further harm, inducing a groundout and a pop-up with the tying run on second base.

NEXT UP
Madison will next be in action Monday afternoon at 4 p.m. when the Dodgers travel to Mountain Lakes in the first round of the North Jersey Section 2, Group II tournament.

The third-seeded Lakers (16-5) raced out to an 11-2 start and were seeded seventh in this year's Morris County Tournament. They are riding a three-game winning streak, defeating Wallkill Valley, Kinnelon and Boonton earlier this week.

Despite throwing 38 pitches Saturday, Ennis said he expects Allen will get the start for Madison.

"We knocked the rust off him a little bit today," Ennis said. "He was set to throw his bullpen session today, but he ended up throwing it on the mound in competitive action. He probably went a little farther than we wanted him to, but all that will mean is that that will be one less inning or so he can throw on Monday."

The winner of Monday's game will advance to Friday's sectional quarterfinal against the winner of the game between No. 6 Newark Tech and No. 11 Garfield.


BOX SCORE
Madison      2  0  0  5  0  0  0  2  -  9  11  4
Newark A    2  0  1  1  0  1  2  0  -  7    7  3
W: Connor Allen
L: Zach Taffet

MADISON (9-12)
-Wulff, LF              2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 2B, BB
-Brownlee, 2B        2-5, 2 R, RBI, SB
-Tracy, 1B             2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR, 2B, HBP
-Hunter, DH/P        1-4, 2 RBI, 2B, BB
-Allen, 3B              0-3
---Dias, 3B             0-2
-Meister, SS          0-3, BB
-Haughey, RF        2-4, R, RBI, HR, 2B, SB
-Higgins, P            0-2, R, BB
---Kennedy, C        0-1
-Kluge, CF            2-4, R, 2B, SB

-Higgins, SP         4      IP, 4 R, 2 ER, 5 H, 4 K, 1 BB, 71 pitches (43 strikes)
---Flanagan, RP    1 1/3 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 H, 1 K, 4 BB, 37 pitches (18 strikes)
---Hunter, RP        1      IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 H, 0 K, 3 BB, 26 pitches (9 strikes)
---Allen, RP          1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 K, 3 BB, 38 pitches (20 strikes)

NEWARK ACADEMY (7-16)
-McHugh, 1B         0-3, R, BB, HBP
-Werner, P            2-2, 3 R, RBI, 3 BB, 2 SB
-Webster, CF        0-3, 2 RBI, BB, sac fly
-Seltzer, SS          3-5, 2 RBI, 2B, CS
-Sutton, RF           0-4, BB
-Somberg, DH       1-4, R, BB, SB
-Taffet, 3B             0-4, BB
-McMahon, LF      0-3, R, 2 BB, SB
-Keur, C               1-3, R, RBI, BB, SB

-Werner, SP         4 IP, 7 R, 7 ER, 7 H, 1 K, 2 BB, 64 pitches (43 strikes)
---Taffet, RP          4 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 H, 0 K, 1 BB, 40 pitches (21 strikes)