Dodgers Take Advantage of Sloppy Fielding and Defeat Point Pirates 10-0

 Joe Gargiulo and the Point Pirates lost an 8-4 ballgame to the LA Dodgers at CBA High School on July 16, thanks to a few key errors that worked against the former Point Beach southpaw. A few weeks later, the Pirates had another opportunity against the Dodgers with their ace lefty on the mound.

Unfortunately for Gargiulo and the Pirates, it was more of the same. Thanks to some very sloppy Pirates defense, the Dodgers easily routed the Pirates 10-0 in the mercy rule shortened affair at Point Beach High School athletic complex.

Following an unearned run in the top of the first inning, the Dodgers scored three more runs in the second, courtesy of two errors to start the inning. The first a routine ground ball in the direction of third base, the second a fly ball into right center field which hit off the glove of Pirates' center-fielder John Rose.

“I really feel for John because he’s been pitching his butt off for us all season long,” said Pirates manager Anthony DelPriore. “The result of this game is all on the defense, there were plays that needed to be made and they weren’t.”

With two runs already in, the Dodgers capped off the inning on a run-scoring triple by Matt Oliveto.

Although all four of the runs in the first two innings were unearned, the Dodgers bats were able to strike Gargiulo for two runs in the third inning courtesy of back-to-back run scoring singles by Adam Vogel and Tim Petrin.

In the fourth, the Dodgers were able to knock Gargiulo out of the game after a Kenny Craddox RBI triple and a two run double by Vogel. That stretched the Dodgers lead to nine.

The Pirates turned to reliever Kevin Bobertz to end the Dodgers threat in the fourth inning, but offered little relief in the fifth and gave up three more Dodgers runs.

The Pirates were unable to put together much offensively against Dodgers hurler Dominic Rizzolo.

The southpaw went the distance and scattered four hits in the five-inning mercy rule shortened contest.

The one bright spot for the Pirates was a 2-2 afternoon by Point Borough standout Deven DelPriore.

The Pirates will try to close out the season on a winning note against the Barnegat Blue Jays at 6 p.m. Monday.

“We have a few real nice pieces that we like a lot on this team,” said DelPriore. “I’m hoping that those guys have good seasons in the spring and come back even better. If we're able to add a few more pieces along the way, we’ll be a much improved team.”