CROWN POINT, Ind. – The Lake County Corn Dogs flexed their first-place muscles at home against the Griffith Generals, beating them easily by a score of 7-1. The dagger came in the third inning when Matt Santana hit a bases-clearing double with two outs to put the Corn Dogs out of reach.
Jimmy Fairley was knocked around by solid Corn Dog hitting, as he allowed seven runs (six earned) in just four innings pitched in his losing effort. Despite Fairley’s struggles, Alex White and David Deimling were excellent out of the bullpen, pitching two scoreless innings each.
“I thought they were drilling the ball pretty well,” said pitching coach Ryan Jemar about Fairley’s rough outing. “Jimmy was really good tonight. Couple mistake pitches.” Jemar was also pleased with the valiant effort from his bullpen, saying they “came in, threw strikes. They were competitive in the zone.”
The lone run scored by Griffith came in on a Nick Fies sacrifice fly in the fifth inning. The Generals had numerous chances to chip into the Corn Dog lead, but, as has been the case all season, Griffith stranded runners in scoring position and failed to cash in scoring opportunities.
“I thought we battled in our at-bats, but didn’t come through with clutch hits tonight,” stated head coach Peter Romsek, a statement he has made several times this season. The Generals remain in the cellar of the Northern League, as they become the first team to dip ten games under .500 with a 6-16 record nearing the end of June.
The Generals will look to bounce back against the Southland Vikings tomorrow at 5 p.m.