Muckdogs open key home stand this evening

BATAVIA – Thanks to a rain delay, seven members of the Batavia Muckdogs may be a little tired tonight as they host State College at 7:05 p.m. to open a six-game home stand that could decide the playoffs.

The players were in the New York-Penn League All-Star game Wednesday night.

Batavia (35-29) and West Virginia (34-28) are tied at the top of the New York-Penn League Pinckney Division with tonight’s opponent, State College, in third two games back at 33-31.

The games Thursday, Friday and Saturday are at 7:05 p.m. On Sunday at 5:05 p.m. starts the series with Williamsport. The two teams play at 7:05 p.m. on Monday and 11:05 a.m. on Tuesday.

Wednesday night at the NYPL All-Star Game in Staten Island, Batavia’s J.D. Orr and Milton Smith II put the game away early with their hitting, defense and speed.

Orr started the game with a sharp single, then went to second when a pitch just got past a catcher. He scored on a basest for a 1-0 lead for the Blue team.

Milton Smith II doubled in the second then with two outs had a head-first slide to score on a single. He also made a catch by the wall in left field to preserve the shutout.

Julio Frias threw a scoreless inning, Josh Simpson was perfect with a strikeout in his outing, earning a hold, as did Brock Love as the Blue team won, 7-3.