DUNLAP – It was a nail biter for six, but Plymouth ran away and hid in the seventh as they took a big 10-4 win on the road at Concord.
Brandon Milligan had a masterful performance tossing four innings of shut out, two hit baseball and ending the night with his third win. In the fifth and sixth the Plmouth right hander escaped trouble with the tying run in scoring position. Big defensive plays were the byword of the night as the Pilgrims responded with tough plays in tough situations to hold the Minutemen at bay.
“He knows he’s got his defense behind him, he’s the epitome of using his defense to his advantage,” said Plymouth head coach Ryan Wolfe. “He gets them out front – a lot of ground balls – and he’s a guy going forward that whenever we send him out there he’s going to give us a chance to win.”
Each time he mad a big pitch to get out of trouble, and each time his offense came to his rescue.
“We were able to get some early and then like the other night we got some late,” said Wolfe. “We had some really great at bats tonight I thought. Guys battling fouling some pitches off and able to get on base with a couple walks and any time you can get a couple walks with some big hits your going to score some runs and that’s what we did tonight.”
Plymouth answered a fifth inning Concord run with one of their own when Cody Gamble walked and scored on Justin Drudge’s two out single. Another run in the sixth was answered with a seven spot in the seventh by the Pilgrims. The big blow – a one out grand slam from – you guessed it – Justin Drudge.
The Plymouth shortstop has been red hot at the plate since being moved to the lead off slot in the order. The slam was Drudge third in the past week and capped a three hit, four RBI night.
Caleb Mikesell had a pair of hits and an RBI on the night as he continues to hit over .400 for the year. Joe Smith had a crucial 2 RBI single in the Plymouth seventh that gave the Pilgrims a two run cushion in front of Drudge’s big blow.
“Overall we’ve been playing some good baseball,” said Wolfe. “I guess this is a good time of year to be doing that heading into sectional with a big game tomorrow night at Wawasee to keep the momentum going.”
The Pilgrims (11-9, 7-4) keep themselves in the hunt for a share of the NLC title with the win. Another must win game awaits them tonight at Wawasee with NorthWood headed to Bill Nixon Field on Monday.
LINESCORE
Plymouth 1 0 0 1 0 1 7 10-9-3
Concord 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 4-7-2
WP – Milligan (3-2). LP – Stauffer. HR – Drudge (P). 2B – Curry C.
