5/25 - 5/31 ONSL Game of the Week

RAMSEUR, NORTH CAROLINA - The season got off to quite the start for the Danville Dairy Daddies and the Sandhills Bogeys, as their game on May 25th could only be described as an offensive barrage. The final tally was 16-15 in favor of the Dairy Daddies, but the path they took to get there was anything but ordinary. 

The Bogeys took a commanding 11-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning, highlighted by a stellar first inning in which they scored five times. They were able to continue adding on runs with another big offensive showing in the top of the seventh, tallying another four runs before Danville got the opportunity to push their first across the plate. Their offensive performance throughout the game to that point was far better than the Dairy Daddies, putting them in the driver’s seat to win the game. That would soon change as the Dairy Daddies were able to take advantage of defensive miscues by the Bogeys to get the scoring started in the bottom of the seventh inning, opening the floodgates for what would be perhaps the best offensive inning of the season thus far for any team. They didn’t let the lopsided score keep them from getting on the board early in the inning, setting the tone for quality at-bats from their lineup. A combination of hits, walks, and errors by the Bogeys set the Dairy Daddies up to make this a close game, but Jake Moore’s two-run single to right field that would tie the game at 11 runs apiece was perhaps the catalyst Danville needed to get their fans and team back in the game.  

The theatrics wouldn’t end there, as Danville continued to add to their lead with another run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give themselves a 12-11 lead. The RBI, tallied by Connor Plaster with a single to right-center field, would mark the 12th unanswered run for Danville throughout the game, putting them in position to win the game going into the bottom of the ninth. 

However, the win wouldn’t come easy, as the Bogeys would have a rally of their own, reigniting the offense that scored 11 runs earlier in the game. Jacob Bates, a freshman from Sandhills Community College, would provide the game tying hit via a single down the left-field line, giving the Bogeys life in a crucial situation. The inning proved to be beneficial for the Bogeys, as they would score four runs, highlighted by a two-run single courtesy of Dominic Depa, a junior from Wilmington College.

Going into the bottom of the ninth, in a game that the Bogeys had all but won before the start of the seventh inning, Sandhills would find themselves in front by three runs with three outs left in the game. That wouldn’t prove to be enough in the end, as Danville would keep their own rally going, scoring four runs with two outs to stay alive in the ballgame. Connor Plaster, who initially gave the Dairy Daddies the lead in the eighth, would put the team on his back once again with a game-winning, bases-clearing single.  

The final score would end up being 16-15 in favor of the Danville Dairy Daddies, but if this game is any indication, fans of both teams can look forward to a whole lot of fun all season long. 

The Old North State League is a college summer wood bat league in North Carolina that features 20 teams not including Burlington and Danville. In 2025, the league plans to expand to 24 teams and has been vetting markets and requests in anticipation of announcing the newest additions.