The Bulldogs played host to the Travis Tigers tonight with first place on the line in District 23-5A, and came away with the victory in a hard –fought pitchers’ duel in front of a full house for Little League Night at the Ballpark. Both Bulldog Starting Pitcher A.J. Glasshof and Travis Starting Pitcher Abel Flores went the distance and logged 11 strikeouts apiece, but a couple of untimely miscues by the Tiger defense were the difference in this one.

The Tigers seemed poised to go on top early, getting the lead-off man on each of the first three innings, and base runners in 6 of 7 innings. In the second, Travis had runners on second and third with no outs on a single by Brown and a double by Flores. A great play by 3B Ryan Dalton on the 5-3 groundout kept a run from scoring, and that was followed by a strikeout and foul fly out down the right field line. In the top of third, the Bulldogs turned a double play, getting a strikeout on 2B Floyd and caught SS Tucker stealing for the first two outs of the inning.

After managing only one base runner in the first two innings, the Bulldogs struck pay dirt in the third. RF Tony Gigliotti led off with a misplayed grounder to the pitcher, and DH Drew Miller reached and moved Gigliotti to third on a mishandled bouncer to the normally sure-handed Tiger 3B Crawford. SS Barrett Barnes plated Gigliotti with a smash single knocked down by a diving Crawford, and both Miller and Barnes scored on Dalton’s line drive double to left center. The Tigers were able to limit the damage to 3 runs, when Tiger CF Michael Warren made a diving catch in right center to rob LF Blake Doerr of a certain RBI double.

Those 3 runs, though, would be enough. Glasshof allowed another 4 base runners the rest of the way, but the Tigers couldn’t capitalize. Similarly, the Bulldogs would threaten again in the fourth and fifth, but were shut out the rest of the way,

Next up for the Bulldogs – A home game Tuesday night against the Dulles Vikings. Tonight’s win moves the Bulldogs to 4-0, one game ahead of Travis and Dulles, both at 3-1.

Bulldog Offensive Highlights:

· 3 hits for the Bulldogs, 1 for extra bases: a double for 3B Ryan Dalton, and a single each for SS Barrett Barnes and CF Daniel Rockett

· 3 RBIs on the game: 2 for Dalton, 1 for Barnes

Bulldog Pitching Highlights:

· A.J. Glasshof, (3-1, 2-0) complete game victory, 7 innings, 11 K’s, 3 BB’s, 5 hits, 0 runs

Bulldog Defensive Highlights:

· With runners on second and third with nobody out in the second, 3B Dalton snares a hotshot to third, checks the runner, and completes the 5-3 putout.

· With two on and two outs in the second, RF Gigliotti races over for the foul fly catch to end the inning.

· A strike ‘em out – throw ‘em out double play in the third, Glasshof to Hills to Dalton for the 1-2-5 strikeout and caught stealing.

· With two on and two outs, CF Rockett tracks down a line drive for the third out in the fifth.

Winning Pitcher: A.J. Glasshof (3-1, 2-0)

Losing Pitcher: Abel Flores

Extra Base Hits, TRV: 2B- Flores

Extra Base Hits, FBA: 2B - Dalton

Score by inning:

Submitted by: Tom Miller