The Hounds, fresh in their 2021 City Connect jerseys, took a 5-1 lead into the last inning, but could not record the outs necessary to secure the win, dropping the game and the series to the Electrons at Winnemac on Saturday morning.

Mike DiCola (#28) earned the important start on the mound and performed, holding the Electrons to 1 earned run over 6-1/3 innings of work.

The Hounds quickly took the lead in the first inning on a standing triple by Garret Eddy (#17, CF) and RBIs by Arron Kruse (#11, 3B) and Tim Riggenbach (#8, RF). The Doggos tacked on insurance in the 3rd when a two-out double by Brent Fukushima (#27, SS) was converted to a run by a ROE by Garrett Eddy and an RBI double by Kruse. Additional insurance was accumulated in the fourth when the DiCola floated a liner just enough above the glove of the Trons shortstop, scoring Brian Lehman, setting the game at 5-1.

DiCola held-off the rivals from a potentially pivotal 6th inning, stranding a pair of lead off singles to no runs with a pair of strikeouts and a ground out against the 3-4-5 hitters, along the way showcasing his 1-out, 2-out, and 3-out self-celebratory screams, much to the consternation of the thin-skinned Trons (result in an unsuccessful head-hunting first pitch at his next at-bat).

But the wheels fell off in the last frame, when errors and walks came back to haunt the Hounds. Although the Doggos secured a promising first out fly-out to the centerfielder, they followed it up with a pair of errors and a walk. After a single from the 10 batter, the Hounds starting pitcher was relieved, and the Electrons formed a conga line with a bases-loaded walk for a caboose. All told, the Electrons tallied 5 unearned runs to steal the walk-off win, and the losing squad was met with aggressive celebratory screams as the game (and K’s Cup) deciding ball four was thrown.

Both teams headed to shared-sponsored K’s Dugout for post-game beers and pizza, and surely the refreshments were just a bit sweeter on one side of the bar than the other. The Hounds will fight for the consolation prize of avoiding a sweep tomorrow morning, where they will face their rivals in game 3 of the season series, weather permitting.