Hot Rods salvage series finale against Greensboro

Published 7:46 pm Sunday, April 27, 2025

By Micheal Compton

The Bowling Green Hot Rods salvaged a rough week with a 3-1 win over Greensboro in the series finale on Sunday at Bowling Green Ballpark.

After losing four of the first five, including two shutouts, Bowling Green (10-11) used a strong start from Marcus Johnson and just enough offense to end the series on a high mark before embarking on a lengthy road trip.

“I told the guys in there I felt like we went to war and came back,” Valenzuela said. “This week felt longer than it was, but (today) was awesome. Johnson gave us a good start and the rest of the bullpen did a phenomenal job. Offensively, we capitalized when we had the chance. It was a good win.”

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Bowling Green bunched all of its scoring together in the fourth inning. The Hot Rods used an error and two walks to load the bases, with Noah Myers slapping a two-run single just inside the chalk down the left-field line to get BG on the board.

Two batters later, Jhon Diaz added some insurance with an RBI groundout.

“It’s a bunch of gritty guys on offense,” Valenzuela said. “I don’t think we’ve developed that guy that can hit the three-run homer, but every single guy in that lineup and on the bench will give you a good at-bat and that is all that we ask for.”

The Hot Rods wouldn’t score again, but that proved to be enough.

Johnson delivered his best outing of the season — allowing one hit and walking two in five shutout innings. It was the first win of the season for the right-hander, with his ERA dropping from 7.20 to 5.76.

“All of those guys — (Garrett) Edwards, Johnson, (Gary) Gill Hill, (Santiago) Suarez, (TJ) Nichols — they are all very good,” Valenzuela said. “Johnson went out today and gave us five strong and that kind of set the tone for the entire game.”

Hayden Snelsire, Junior William and Drew Dowd each tossed a scoreless inning of relief before Greensboro (15-6) broke through off reliever Gerlin Rosario in the ninth.

Esmerlyn Valdez opened the ninth with a double, with an error and a walk loading the bases with one out. Rosario got a strikeout for the second out, but hit P.J. Hilson to force in a run.

The comeback bid ended there, with Rosario getting a strikeout to close it out for his first save of the season.

“Those things are gonna happen,” Valenzuela said. “Baseball is never going to be easy. I’m glad that Rosie was able to make some pitches when he needed to and end his outing with a punchout.”

Bowling Green finished with seven hits. Tony Santa Maria had three hits, while Myers and Aiden Smith finished with two hits each.

“Offensively, we are going through a little bit of a struggle right now but it’s fun to watch these guys go out there and compete, not give up any at-bats,” Valenzuela said. “I am really excited for this two-week road trip.”

Bowling Green opens a six-game series at Aberdeen at 10:05 a.m. CDT on Tuesday. It’s the start of a 12-game road trip that concludes with six games at Winston-Salem.

“That’s going to be a tough two-weeker,” Valenzuela said. “A lot of these guys haven’t done that before, so I am excited to see how it goes. I am excited to see these guys battle.”

I am a sports reporter and movie critic for the Bowling Green Daily News.

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