By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Power hitting was the name of the game on July 9 at Smith Stadium. The Boone Bigfoots used a 6-run 10th inning to rally past the Lexington County Blowfish in overtime, 16-13.
Bigfoots third baseman Brett Vondohlen provided 10th inning momentum with a 3-run blast that tied the game and nobody out, then teammate Danny Simmons closed the night with a walkoff, 3-run dinger, giving the hosts the requisite margin of victory. It was Vondohlen’s No. 13 homer of the season, putting him in a tie with Forest City’s Caleb Burr for the Coastal Plain League lead to date. Simmons’ round-tripper was No. 3 on the season.
In the 5th inning, Vondohlen also ripped his eleventh double of the season. Designated hitter Isaiah French took advantage of a deep ball to the fence in the 9th inning to record his first triple of the season.
Vondohlen, who plays college ball for Middle Tennessee State in his hometown of Murfreesboro, Tenn., had a game-high five RBIs on the night, plus he added a stolen base. Middle Tennessee teammate, outfielder and the Bigfoots’ leadoff hitter, Kenny McKinley, took advantage of the power behind him, notching a game-high four runs scored and rounded out the night’s 2-hit, 1-walk performance with a stolen base.
It was a rough night for pitchers, but Colton Zahorik pitched the 10th inning for the Bigfoots and picked up his third win of the season after facing five Blowfish batters. Lexington County’s Robert Hunt threw to just five Boone batters in the 10th, but was credited for the loss. Zahorik is 3-1 on the season with a 7.14 ERA. Hunt finishes the game at 1-3, 8.76.
TEAM NOTES
- Boone leads the Coastal Plain League with 43 home runs.
- Boone’s Vondohlen and Forest City’s Burr, each with a league-leading 13 HRs, are well ahead of the next CPL batters, Martinsville’s Sam York and Tri-City’s Colby Motley, each with 8 HRs.
- With 224 runs scored on the season, Boone is No. 6 in the 15-team CPL
- The Bigfoots also lead the league in doubles, with 79. The next closest is the Asheboro Zookeepers, with 60
- Boone is No. 4 in fewest strikeouts, with 233. Asheboro leads in the category, with 208
- As might be expected from the team with the most HRs, Boone has the fewest stolen bases (38)
- With all the HRs, Boone is far and away the leader in Total Bases (542). The No. 2 team is the Morehead City Marlins (440).
TOP BATTERS
- BNE – Brett Vondohlen: 3-5, 3 runs scored, 5 RBIs, HR, 2B, SB, BB
- BNE – Danny Simmons: 3-6, 2 runs scored, 4 RBIs, HR
- BNE – Kenny McKinley: 2-5, 4 runs scored, BB (intentional), SB
- BNE – Isaiah French: 3-4m 2 runs scored, 3 RBIs, 3B, BB(2)
- BNE – Cody Turner: 3-5, 2 runs scored, 1 RBI, BB
- LEX – Drew Buchanan: 3-5. 1 run scored, 3 RBIs, HR, BB, SF, HBP
- LEX – Mac Dawsey: 1-4, 3 runs scored, 1 RBI, 2B, BB
- LEX – Thomas Powell: 2-5, 2 runs scored, 1 RBI
- LEX – Parker Mergo: 3-4, 2 runs scored, 1 RBI, BB(2)
- LEX – Cooper Noble: 2-6, 2 RBIs, 2B
- LEX – Rex Smith: 0-3, 1 run scored, BB(3)
