By Jeremy Stafford -- Daily Sports Correspondent

WOODSTOCK — Sam Dowdy had six strikeouts and allowed only one run on five hits Friday night, and the Central Falcons defeated the James Wood Colonels 4-1 at Central High School.

Five of Dowdy's strikeouts came in the first two innings of the game. He struck out all three batters in the first inning, and then fanned another two in the second.

"Any time you have a pitcher that comes out in the beginning of the game like that, it sets the tone and it gives you a chance to be in it from then on," Falcons coach Don Foltz said. "[Dowdy] played the ball well and he kept them off stride."

The Falcons' bats seemed to feed off of Dowdy's stingy pitching from the outset, scoring one run off of two hits in the first inning, and advancing at least one runner into scoring position in every inning but the fourth.

The Colonels threatened to tie the game in the second inning when Tyler Orndorff was hit by a pitch and managed to advance to third on a fielding error, but Dowdy struck out his fifth batter to end the inning.

"They're a good hitting team and you've got to keep them off-pace and off-balance," Foltz said. "[Dowdy] did a good job of that today."

James Wood finally tied the game in the fourth inning when Brock Lockhart scored from second base off of a single by Matt Copley.

James Wood pitcher Cory Abemy kept the game close, and even seemed to get better as it went on; after he allowed the one run in the first inning, he struck out two in the second inning and then another two in the fourth inning.

The Falcons finally opened the game up in the fifth inning, however, scoring three runs on only two hits.

Codie Fravel led off the fifth inning with a walk to first base, and Alex Palmerton singled into right field. Anthony Frye advanced to first on a James Wood fielding error, scoring the Falcons' second run of the game. Designated hitter Daniel Hawkins was intentionally walked, which loaded the bases and created a force at second. The strategy backfired, though, when J.J. Armentrout was hit by a pitch and Palmerton trotted in to home plate.

Frye scored the final run of the game when Trevor Hammon singled to right field.

"I was playing small-ball from the get-go because I knew it was going to be a pitching battle," Foltz said. "You just have to claw and get what you can get. We were lucky tonight, we got a couple of bounces our way, and it panned out."

Dowdy's pitching was aided by the Falcons' tremendous defensive effort, despite committing two errors in the game. Palmerton had a particularly stout play at third base, when he fielded a grounder away from the bag, spun around to maintain his balance, and then threw out the runner at first base.

"I've seen a lot of baseball in the last five summers, and that's probably one of the top plays I've seen," Foltz said.

Palmerton eventually replaced Dowdy on the mound, where he had one strikeout, allowed one hit, and earned the save.

"I'm a firm believer that, if you're going against a good-hitting team, they're going to make adjustments," Foltz said. "I knew it would be a bit different pace bringing in Palmerton, [who is] a righty with some heat."

With the win, the Falcons improved to 5-10 overall, 3-7 in the Northwestern District, and split the two-game series with the Colonels, who fell to 10-3, 5-3 in the district.

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