Dwyer Outlast South Fork

It was an uphill battle that required some good fortune and great defense in the final inning, but the Dwyer Panthers where able to squeak past the South Fork Bulldogs by a score of 4-3 on Wednesday night.

The visiting Panthers scored more runs than they had hits, but Tyler Ahearn kept the team in contention with five solid innings of work on the bump. He allowed three runs, only one earned, and struck out five but Kyle Khachadourion received the credit for the win after hanging a pair of zeros on the board in the final two frames.

Brenden Kudlinski shined for the Bulldogs, going 2-for-3 while knocking in a couple of runs. The first of those RBIs came on a groundout in the first inning and put Dwyer in a 1-0 hole.

The Panthers pulled even with a sacrifice fly by Charlie Van Werner in the second, then took a one run lead in the third when Sean Malezke singled and later scored on an error.

The lead was short-lived, however. South Fork’s Sheldon Carroll tied it back up at two with an RBI groundout in the next half inning. Kudlinski struck again in the next at-bat, this time rapping a triple into right-field, scoring Mike Polk in the process and putting the Bulldogs back on top.

Trailing by one and down to their final three outs, Dwyer was able to take advantage of some South Fork errors to plate two in the top of the seventh, giving them a precarious one-run advantage.

With two out in the bottom half and Marcus Mastellone representing the tying run on first after drawing a walk, Polk lined a shot that found some real estate in right field. As he rounded for third, Mastellone headed home. The throw to the plate by Dwyer was in time and on target though, preventing the run and ending the game.

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