Jefferson Holds Off Robinson For Key District Win

The Jefferson Dragons held off a late-game push from Robinson to hold on for a 5-3 win in 6A-8 play Thursday. The win provided some atonement for the Dragons, after the Knights topped them in similar fashion during last season’s meeting in the district playoffs.

Robby Martin notched the win for Jefferson (2-0), going four and two-third innings, allowing two runs, four hits and striking out three. Reliever Michael Dominguez held off a late Robinson rally and punched the final seven outs to earn the save.

Trailing 5-3 in the top of the seventh, the Knights (0-2) looked to steal the lead after trailing the entire game. With one out, pinch hitter Carter Fair and Luis Estevez drew consecutive walks to put runners on first and second. Austin Glasgow subbed in for Fair to put more speed on base for the Knights. The move paid off big for Robinson. Glasgow stole third, then stole home on the next pitch to bring the score to 5-3.

However, with a runner on first and the tying run at plate Dominguez came up big. He struck out the next batter and induced a liner to center to end the game. Dominguez recorded four strikeouts in two-and-a-third inning to preserve a great start by his teammates.

Runs in the early innings put Jefferson in position for the win. The host Dragons started the scoring in the bottom of the second with two outs. With courtesy runner Jake Coleman on first for Kevin Gonzalez, who singled two at-bats earlier, Jordan Perez hit a ground ball that was misplayed to allow Coleman to score.

After Martin retired the side in the top of the third, the Jefferson offense delivered another run with two outs in bottom of the inning. Chris Demarco hit a grounder up the middle to score courtesy runner Ian Quelle on an RBI single.

The Dragons tacked on two more runs in the fourth. With one out and the bases loaded, Ty Evans drew a walk allowing Joveni Puentes to score. The next batter Martin grounded into a fielder’s choice, allowing Jordan Perez to touch home plate and boost the score to 4-0. However, Robinson relief pitcher Riley Shackowsky forced a ground out in the next at-bat preventing a big inning from Jefferson.

The Knights bats finally came to life in the fifth when they tacked two runs on the board. With no outs and runners on first and third, Joey Scionti hit a grounder to second, allowing Matthew Chowning to score. McCray added an RBI single that narrowed the score to 4-2 Jefferson.

The Dragons picked up an insurance run in the sixth when Isaiah Gonzalez scored to boost the lead to 5-2.

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