Dixon completes win against Rockford Christian

DIXON – It took the better part of a work week, but the Dixon baseball team was able to defeat Rockford Christian.

In a game that was halted Monday due to inclement weather, the Dukes were able to overcome a few rough patches and post a 9-4 victory against the Royal Lions on Friday at Veterans Memorial Field.

It resumed with one out in the bottom of the third inning with Dixon ahead 6-1, runners on second and third, and a full count to the No. 9 hitter in the lineup, Griffey Rodriguez. Royal Lions reliever Tyler Matthews promptly issued ball four to load the bases.

The next batter, Ryan Pitzer, hit a ground ball to shortstop Justin Gorski. He fielded it, tossed it to second baseman Devan Bruggeman for a force out, but the relay throw to first was wild. Michael Ullrich and Ethan Van Horn scored on the play to up the Dukes’ lead to 8-1.

Ullrich came on in relief of Eli Dever, who had allowed one unearned run in three innings on Monday. Ullrich began with a strikeout, but four of the next five batters reached base via an error, a single and two walks, prompting Dixon coach Jason Burgess to re-insert Dever to pitch. Burgess had hoped to save Dever for a game Monday at Genoa-Kingston.

“I decided to go with Michael because he hadn’t thrown in a while, and I wanted to see if he could roll a little bit,” Burgess said. “Obviously he was a little rusty. He battled through a few things, gave up a few runs, and at that point, I was going to bring Eli back.”

Dever (2-0) got out of a jam by striking out Matthews to end the fourth inning, then allowed just one unearned run the rest of the way. For the game, he tossed 6 1/3 innings and allowed two unearned runs, one hit and three walks, with seven strikeouts.

“It took me a little longer,” Dever said. “Obviously I didn’t warm up to start the game, so it took me an inning or two to get in there. I had help from my defense, especially in the last inning, when they made some incredible plays, so shout-outs to them.”

Dixon’s defense was an issue overall. The Dukes had two errors on Monday, then committed three more on Friday. Three of the four runs for Rockford Christian (7-2, 5-1 Big Northern) were unearned.

“My fear was, and I told them this before the game, you can’t come out here dead,” Burgess said. “You’ve got a 6-1 lead and you can’t be content. You’ve got to approach this game at 0-0, which obviously by the looks at it, we didn’t.”

Ullrich reached base three times with a double, single and walk, scored two runs and drove in three to pace the Dixon offense. Hayden Steinmeyer also had a double and a single, and scored twice.

Dixon (6-0, 5-0) returns to action today for a non-conference doubleheader at Stillman Valley. It will be a chance for the reserves to show what they can do.

“There’s guys that haven’t seen the field yet, and I’m thankful we’ve got the games so they can play,” Burgess said. “They need the time. It’s going to be great to see these other kids out there and get innings. As far as pitching, we’re going to throw a little bit of everybody and the kitchen sink, to be honest.”

Star of the game: Eli Dever, Dixon, 6 1/3 IP, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 7 K, 3 BB

Key performers: Michael Ullrich, Dixon, 2-for-2, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 R; Hayden Steinmeyer, Dixon, 2-for-3, 2B, 2 R

Up next: Dixon at Stillman Valley (2), 10 a.m. today