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Four-run fifth inning sends Kingston/Forty Fort to first state LL loss

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Luzerne County Council debates telephone attendance at meetings

<p>Now that&#8217;s no way to treat an old friend.</p><p>But once again, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders found a way to win in extra innings.</p><p>Mike Ford lined a two-out, two-run home run off former RailRiders reliever and Crestwood High School grad Matt Wotherspoon in the top of the 10th inning Wednesday and Ben Heller worked out of a tight jam in the bottom half to lift Scranton/Wilkes-Barre over Norfolk, 5-4.</p><p>It was the second straight night the RailRiders rode a two-run homer in the 10th inning to beat the Tides. Miguel Andujar&#8217;s two-run shot Tuesday lifted Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to a 5-3 extra-inning victory.</p><p>The latest game-winning blow, delivered by Ford, came against Wotherspoon &#8212; who was traded by the Yankees to the Baltimore Orioles system earlier this month after spending the past two seasons bouncing between Double-A Trenton and the RailRiders.</p><p>Wotherspoon, who fell to 1-1 with Norfolk, took the mound for the top of the 10th. After he struck out Eddy Rodriguez, Jake Cave worked a walk.</p><p>Wotherspoon retired Donovan Solano on a short fly ball, but Ford followed by lining his seventh homer of the season, and third in the past five games, over the right-center field wall to give the RailRiders a 5-3 lead.</p><p>They had to struggle to hold it.</p><p>Heller walked Logan Schafer to start the bottom of the 10th, then former Scranton/Wilkes-Barre outfielder Chris Dickerson drilled a double to put the tying runs in scoring position with nobody out.</p><p>Only one scored, though.</p><p>Schafer came home when David Washington grounded out, and Drew Dosch followed with a short fly to Mark Payton in left field that was too short for Dickerson to score. Heller then fought back from a 3-1 count to strike out Norfok cleanup man Pedro Alvarez, who has 23 home runs this season.</p><p>The RailRiders took a 2-0 lead by scoring a run in each of the first two innings, as Andujar&#8217;s sacrifice fly scored Cave in the first and Cave&#8217;s RBI groundout brought home Mason Williams in the second.</p><p>Norfolk tied it against RailRiders starter Chance Adams in the third inning, when Dickerson unloaded a two-run homer.</p><p>The RailRiders took the lead, 3-2 in the fourth, when Rodriguez singled home Williams.</p><p>Adams struck out seven batters and allowed just the two runs through seven innings. But Norfolk tied it in the bottom of the eighth, when Dosch double home Dickerson, setting up the extra-inning drama.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Ford </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/web1_ford-mug.jpg</photo0><caption0>Ford </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @TLSports</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Ford homers off of Wotherspoon to lift RailRiders in 10 innings