7/6 - 7/12 ONSL GAME OF THE WEEK

by Darby Allen

Fans of the Old North State League were treated to some expansion team action this week in Danville as the Burlington Sock Pups were in town to face the Danville Dairy Daddies for the second time this season. The game would result in a close game between two of the teams who are set to become full-time ONSL members in 2025, and although they are not eligible for postseason participation, the Thursday night contest brought plenty of fun for those in attendance. 

Burlington would open the scoring in the top of the first inning as a four-pitch walk was issued to second baseman Blake Freeman, followed by a single to right-center field from Lenoir Community College sophomore Jacob Strimple. Heads up running by Freeman put runners on the corners for Cade Horton, but there was no RBI opportunity for the first baseman after Freeman would score on a successful stolen base by Strimple, resulting in the lone first inning run for the Sock Pups. 

The Dairy Daddies would strike back in the bottom of the third inning after being held scoreless for the first two frames, as a walk to Tyler Collins would begin a two-out rally and set up a perfect situation for Carter Richardson, who would deliver a single to right field, giving Adam Mustow an RBI opportunity. The Australian native would take full advantage, singling to right field to bring home Danville's first run of the game. Christian Lancaster followed up the success of Mustow with an RBI single of his own, flipping the script on the Sock Pups and giving the Dairy Daddies their first lead of the night.  

Danville would hold onto their 2-1 lead until the sixth inning, where the Sock Pups would strike back with a walk to Aidan Mccandless to start the inning, a double by Sam Norton, and an intentional walk to Ben Anderson; Danville opted to face Christian Baker and Jack Beck with the bases loaded, the latter making the Dairy Daddies pay with a bases-clearing double. The Sock Pups would end the inning shortly after, but not before retaking the lead 4-2 heading into the later innings. 

Their lead wouldn’t last long, however, as Danville was able to tie it up in the seventh inning after Mitch Santino got the Daddies started with an infields single while Richardson worked a walk to put runners on first and second for Eric Mayer, whose bloop single into right field loaded the bases for Danville. These performances set the stage for Colby Cunningham, who delivered in the most spectacular way, providing a two-run single that tied the game at four runs apiece. 

The eighth and ninth innings held no scoring action for either team, but extras would make up for it in the best way, as extra innings proved to be the highlight of the game. The Sock Pups would take a 5-4 lead in the top of the 10th inning as a groundout by Mccandless that would allow the ghost runner to advance to third, eventually scoring on a wild pitch. 

However, Danville would not go down without a fight, as Junior Powell hit a fielder’s choice, but the defense wasn’t enough to get the first out of the inning; this resulted in runners on first and third with Connor Plaster coming to the plate. The third baseman would walk to load the bases, setting up Santino as the hero of the game; however, the junior from Ohio Dominican University had his at-bat shortened by a hit-by-pitch, effectively giving him the game-tying RBI. That wasn’t all, however, because in true Diary Daddies fashion, Carter Richardson would deliver the game-winner via a walk-off-walk, the Daddies second victory of the sort this season. 

The two squads are set to play a three game series at the end of this month to wrap up the season, so fans should make sure to tune in to catch the action, especially if those games hope to live up to the hype after this extra-innings thriller.