One inning earlier, the Madison High School baseball team had ended a 23-inning scoreless streak. Trailing by one in the bottom of the fifth against Chatham, Dodgers head coach Mickey Ennis felt he needed to take a chance to squeeze the tying run across the plate.
So when Tom Tracy hit a fly ball to medium-deep center field, he told Alex Brownlee to tag up. The Madison second baseman got a late start off the bag, and the throw from Chatham center fielder Dan Haus was perfect, beating Brownlee by just a hair.
Ennis called the play the turning point of Chatham's 7-3 victory over Madison Monday afternoon at Madison High School.
"It was my decision," Ennis said. "Maybe it was a desperate decision, but I made it and I'll live with it."
The Dodgers, who suffered their fifth straight loss, had opportunities in the fourth and fifth innings, loading the bases with fewer than two outs in both innings. And though they pulled in three runs–Madison's first time crossing home plate since the first inning of last Wednesday's game against Hanover Park–a pair of double plays put the kibosh on taking the lead on either occasion.
Jamie Hunter hit a double down the left field line in the fourth, scoring Jake Meister and tying the game at 1-1. After Connor Higgins walked, Mike Haughey hit a flare to right field. Roger Wilson made a diving catch to rob Haughey of an RBI, and Hunter was thrown out at second after failing to tag up.
Chatham scored three runs immediately to take back the lead for starter Matt Reader, who pitched a complete game and picked up his first decision of the season.
In the bottom of the fifth, Madison loaded the bases with no outs with an infield single, a hit by pitch and a walk. Meister singled in two to cut Chatham's lead to 4-3. After Tracy flew into the unexpected double play, Connor Allen reached on an error to put runners at the corners with two out. But Reader retired Hunter on strikes to end the threat.
"That's baseball," Ennis said. "When you're in the middle of a four-game losing streak at the time, you keep expecting something to go wrong. We need that one big play, the one big win that gets us off the schneid."
Reader retired the last seven Madison hitters faced, needing just 26 pitches to record five groundouts and two strikeouts to end Chatham's five-game losing streak.
Higgins took the loss for Madison, allowing all seven of Chatham's runs over 5 1/3 innings.
The sophomore right-hander was stellar for four innings, allowing just one run on three hits and striking out six. He threw 21 of his first 25 pitches for strikes.
But Higgins began to labor in the fifth inning, allowing two singles and a walk to load the bases. Read helped his own cause with a long double over the head of center fielder Dilan Kluge, scoring two and giving Chatham a 3-1 lead. Wilson made it 4-1 on a sacrifice fly.
Read also drove in the game's first run with an RBI single in the third inning.
"He's going well right now," said Chatham coach Doug Chambers.
After Madison cut it to 4-3, Chatham quickly threatened again in the top of the sixth.
Brian Ballard hit a solid single to left, and Higgins walked Mike Fox and hit Andrew Matt with a pitch. Haus then hit a sharp ground ball that rolled to the gap in right centerfield, scoring two and chasing Higgins after 97 pitches.
"I thought we could squeeze another inning out of Higgins," Ennis said. "Once their leadoff hitter got on, we thought they would sac bunt, and we wanted our most athletic pitcher out there. I was ready to go get him, but we wanted to protect against the sac bunt."
James Damato made it 7-3 with an RBI groundout on the first pitch from relief pitcher Hunter.
Madison dropped to 3-7 on the season, though they did end their frustrating scoreless streak. But Ennis still isn't happy with his offense, and he said it may be time for a different approach.
"We need to get looser at the plate," Ennis said. "When you go through a terrible stretch of not scoring, you start pressing. That's where we're at right now. Right now, we have nothing to lose."
The Dodgers have scored nine total runs during their five-game losing streak.
NOTES
– Jamie Hunter has turned into something of a relief ace for Madison coach Mickey Ennis.
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Over the past week, Hunter–normally Madison's designated hitter–has appeared in three games, allowing one run and two hits in four innings. A regular reliever, available to pitch an inning or more two or three times per week, is a luxury for most teams, Ennis said.
"He's found a role in a key position for us, which we've found out over the last couple games," Ennis said. "He's thrown very well for us when he's been given the chance."
Hunter pitched 1 2/3 innings Thursday, retiring all five batters he faced.
–Madison will learn its Morris County Tournament seed Tuesday night, when the bracket is released following the county coaches' meeting. The Dodgers will be among the pool of teams seeded seventh through 26th, who will all play preliminary-round games this Saturday. If the Dodgers are seeded in the top 16, they will host their preliminary-round game.
"We know we're not one of the top teams in the county," Ennis said. "But we're going to have an opportunity to win a tournament game on Saturday, and we'll go from there."
The second round and quarterfinals will take place the following weekend, April 30 and May 1.
NEXT UP
Madison returns to action Wednesday afternoon, when they play Mendham at Madison High School. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.
Connor Allen (1-1) is slated to make his fourth start of the season. Last time out he pitched well against Millburn, but was on the short end of a 4-0 loss.
Mendham was 3-6 entering Monday's game against unbeaten Pope John.
BOX SCORE
Chatham 0 0 1 0 3 3 0 - 7 8 1
Madison 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 - 3 7 0
W: Matt Reader (1-0)
L: Connor Higgins (1-2)
CHATHAM (3-6, 2-2)
-Haus, CF 2-3, R, 2 RBI, HBP, SB
-Damato, LF 0-2, R, RBI, BB
-Reader, P 2-3, 3 RBI, 2B, SB
-Wilson, RF 0-3, RBI
-DeVito, C 0-4
-Ballard, SS 2-4, R, 2 SB
-Fox, 2B 0-2, R, BB
-Phillips, 3B 1-3, R
-Matt, DH 1-2, R, HBP
-Reader, SP 7 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 7 H, 7 K, 3 BB, 118 pitches (72 strikes)
MADISON (3-7, 0-5)
-Kluge, CF 0-3, R, HBP
-Brownlee, 2B 1-3, BB, SB
-Meister, SS 2-4, R, 2 RBI
-Tracy, 1B 0-3
-Allen, 3B 1-3
-Hunter, DH/P 1-3, RBI, 2B
-Higgins, SP 1-1, BB
---Ruiz, C 0-1
-Haughey, RF 0-3
-Finelli, LF/PR 0-2, R
---Dias, PH 1-1
-Higgins, SP 5 1/3 IP, 7 R, 7 ER, 8 H, 7 K, 4 BB, 97 pitches (61 strikes)
---Hunter, RP 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 K, 0 BB, 14 pitches (10 strikes)
