Dodgers Offense Left in Dark as Team Falls Under Lights

Under the bright lights at Dodge Field, Connor Allen and Clayton Elder traded zeros. Unfortunately for Madison, Allen blinked first.

Millburn first baseman Dylan Bailey broke a scoreless tie with a two-run single in the top of the sixth, and the Millers went on to beat the Dodgers, 4-0, Thursday night.

Playing at Dodge Field was a special attraction for Madison, and it gave the duel between Allen and Elder the perfect backdrop.

"This was a championship atmosphere," said Madison coach Mickey Ennis. "There was championship-caliber baseball being played right here in Madison by these two teams. I don't like the result, but to play here, against a team of this caliber, under the lights, with the music and the crowd, it was something special."

Elder picked up the win with a complete-game, three-hit shutout. He started off slowly–missing the strike zone on his first six pitches–but worked efficiently and effectively throughout the game. The Millburn hurler retired all six Madison hitters he faced after Bailey's single put the Millers (6-4) on top.

"He just poured in strikes all night long," Ennis said. "I give him a lot of credit. He was outstanding tonight."

Allen struggled with his control all game long, walking seven batters and throwing fewer than half his pitches for strikes. But when he found the strike zone, he was excellent. He didn't give up a hit until there was one out in the fifth inning, and he wriggled out of several jams by inducing weak contact and getting help from his defense.

Seven hitters reached base in some fashion over the first four innings, but only one–Jake Meister, who beat out an infield single in the first–recorded a hit.

Things got dicey for Allen in a 33-pitch fifth inning. He walked Bailey and Brian Gordon, then gave up his first hit, a single to centerfield by second baseman A.J. O'Leary which loaded the bases. But Allen got Peter Han to pop out, and right fielder Mike Haughey made a superb sliding catch to rob Chris Benedict of a couple RBIs and end the inning.

Haughey would be the last Madison hitter to get on base, reaching on a dropped pop-up with one out in the fifth. He stole second to give Alex Brownlee a chance to put Madison in front, but the second baseman flew out to right field.

Allen came out for the sixth inning after five shutout innings, though he had already thrown 84 pitches–and just 39 for strikes. Ennis said that Allen specifically requested the opportunity to come back for another inning.

"He was laboring," Ennis said. "He was pitching on five days' rest ... maybe he could have done with another days' rest and gotten through the sixth. But Millburn swings the bat very well, and he had dominated through 4 1/3 innings. He asked me to go back out, and I trust my pitcher."

But things started off badly for the Madison ace. Lex Blum led off with a solid single tor right. Tim Swanson walked, and Dom Dasti's sacrifice bunt turned into an infield single when Allen hesitated and looked to see if he could make an out at third base. The head-turn gave Dasti enough time to beat the throw to first.

"If Connor had walked someone, I'd have been more concerned," Ennis said. "He made a good pitch, and their kid hit it."

Kyle Flanagan came on to relieve Allen at this point, and he gave up a bloop single off the end of the bat of Bailey, followed by an RBI double to Ian Barry that made it 3-0, before retiring the next three batters.

Millburn added a fourth run in the top of the seventh, Blum executing a perfect suicide squeeze to score Benedict, who reached on a two-base error and advanced to third on a balk.

Madison went down in order in the sixth and seventh innings. After scoring 24 runs against New Providence last Saturday, the Dodgers have scored just six runs in their last three games.

"We know we can swing the bat," Ennis said. "But hitting can be contagious. We need someone to step up and get that big hit for us. Once that happens, everything will fall into place."

Thursday's game was the Dodgers' third straight against a team ranked in the upper echelon in its county; while Madison is now 0-3 in those games, all of them have been winnable games.

"We didn't have to schedule this team," Ennis said. "This was a completely independent game. But we wanted to play them. We want this type of competition. And because of it, I think we're a better team today than we were yesterday."

NEXT UP
Madison will take a day off before returning to action in the championship game of the Highlander Tournament Saturday. First pitch against the host Governor Livingston is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Jake Meister (1-1) will make his third start of the season for the Dodgers. Meister allowed five runs in five innings in his last start, Madison's 24-11 win over New Providence in the Highlander Tournament opening round win last Saturday.

BOX SCORE
Millburn    0  0  0  0  0  3  1  -  4  5  2
Madison    0  0  0  0  0  0  0  -  0  3  1
W: Clayton Elder (1-1)
L: Connor Allen (1-1)

MILLBURN (6-4)
-O'Leary, 2B               1-3, BB
-Han, 3B                      0-4
-Benedict, SS             0-4, R
-Blum, RF                    1-3, R, RBI, SAC
-Swanson, CF             0-2, R, 2 BB
-Dasti, DH                   2-3, R, BB
-Bailey, 1B                  1-3, 2 RBI, BB
-DeCastro, LF           0-2
----Barry, LF              1-1, RBI, 2B
-Gordon, C                 0-0, 2 BB
----Frischman, PH   0-1

-Elder, SP                    7 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 K, 2 BB, 94 pitches (54 strikes)

MADISON (3-5)
-Brownlee, 2B           0-1, 2 BB, SB
-Meister, SS               1-3
-Tracy, 1B                  0-3
-Allen, SP/3B            1-3
-Hunter, DH              0-3
-Kluge, CF                  0-3
-Wallace, LF             0-2
---Higgins, PH          0-1
-Dias, 3B                     1-2
-Haughey, RF           0-2, SB

-Allen, SP                   5+ IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 H, 3 K, 7 BB, 95 pitches (45 strikes)
---Flanagan, RP       2 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 K, 0 BB, 34 pitches (20 strikes)