Dylan Mouzakes Gets Railroaders Back on Track, 7-0
The Cleburne Railroaders entered Monday’s game losers of five of their last six games after being swept by the Wichita Wingnuts this past weekend. They were looking to get themselves back on track and Dylan Mouzakes helped to make that a reality, allowing just one-hit over seven-innings of work in the 7-0 victory. A five-run first helped to propel the Railroaders to victory.
The Stockade looked like they would get on top in the first when they put two runners on with two-outs, but Mouzakes got a fly ball to end the frame. His team then responded with five runs in the bottom half of the inning.
KC Huth led off with a triple to the wall in right and Maikol Gonzalez then drew a walk. Axel Johnson followed with a sacrifice fly to score Huth and Cleburne was up, 1-0. Geraldo Valentin then delivered a base hit before Oscar Mesa crushed a 1-1 offering for his first home run of the season. Salina starter Josh Hodges walked James Land, who advanced to second on a wild pitch. With two down, Ermindo Escobar lined a base hit up the middle that scored Land to make it 5-0.
That was plenty enough support for Dylan Mouzakes (3-3) on this night. The right-hander found himself in some trouble in the third when he gave up a single and then issued two two-out walks to load the bases, but he got Jonathan Moroney to ground out to end the threat. He then walked a batter with two-outs in the fourth, who would be the final batter to reach against the Cleburne starter. He retired the final 10 batters he faced, striking out five in that span, including fanning the side in the sixth. Mouzakes tossed seven outstanding innings, allowing a hit and 4-walks. He struck out 8.
The Railroaders added two more insurance runs. In the fourth, Axel Johnson clubbed his second home run of the season to extend the lead to six. In the sixth, Huth singled and then stole second. He moved to third on a ground out and scored on a base hit by Valentin. That made it 7-0.
Oscar Mesa finished with a run and 3-RBI. Geraldo Valentin was 2-4 with a run and an RBI, and KC Huth had 2-hits and scored 2-runs. Kewby Meyer remains red-hot for Salina, posting two of the teams three hits to raise his average to .327.
By Robert Pannier
