With a playoff berth and a share of the District 23-5A title secure, and with the goal of resting arms and staying healthy for the playoffs, the Bulldogs came out hot but faltered down the stretch, losing to the eventual #1 Seed Dulles Vikings, 14-6, in Monday night’s tiebreaker game at Elkins.

As was usually the case this year, the Bulldogs got on the board early, putting up two runs in the top of the first. CF Daniel Rockett led off with a single, followed by Barrett Barnes with a four-pitch walk. A one-out check-swing groundout by LF Blake Doerr moved the runners up, and 1B Drew Miller came through with a two-out single up the middle to score Rockett and Barnes. Dulles pushed across a run in the bottom of the second off of Bulldog Starting Pitcher Clint VanTilborg to make it 2-1 Bulldogs after two.

The Bulldogs were at it again in the top of the third. Barnes led off with a walk and stole second. 3B Ryan Dalton had an 8-pitch battle that ended with a double to left to score Barnes; LF Blake Doerr didn’t wait nearly as long, jumping on the first pitch he saw by blasting a 2-run homer to left to make it 5-1.

Dulles tied it up with 4 runs in the bottom of the third, but the Bulldogs regained the lead in the top of the fourth. Hot-hitting 2B Luke Mulcahey doubled to right-center, and he came around to score on a single by RF Tony Gigliotti to make it 6-5. Unfortunately, that would be the end of the scoring for the Bulldogs, but not for the Vikings. They would put up 9 runs over the next three innings – 1 off of VanTilborg, 8 off of Reliever Scott Duncan ( all of those runs uncannily coming with two outs, making the final score 14-6.

In the other Monday tiebreaker match-up, the Kempner Cougars beat the Travis Tigers 5-3. Coin flips settled the seeding the rest of the way, as follows: Dulles, Kempner, Austin, Travis.

Next up for the 23-5A #3 Seed Bulldogs – Bi-District Playoffs, Thursday 7:30 p.m., against the 24-5A #2 Seed Alvin Yellowjackets at Manvel High School (one-game playoff).

Bulldog Offensive Highlights:

· 8 hits for the Bulldogs, 3 for extra bases: a double and a single for 2B Luke Mulcahey; HR for LF Blake Doerr; double for 3B Ryan Dalton; and a single each for CF Daniel Rockett, 1B Drew Miller, C Matt Hills, and RF Tony Gigliotti.

· 6 RBIs on the game: 2 each for Doerr and Miller; 1 each for Dalton and Gigliotti.

Bulldog Pitching Highlights:

· Clint VanTilborg, 3.1 innings, 2 K’s, 2 BB’s, 7 hits, 6 runs

· Scott Duncan, 2 innings, 1 K, 4 BB’s, 6 hits, 8 runs, 3 earned runs

· Anthony DeJesus, 0.2 inning, 1 K, 1 BB, 1 HPB, 0 hits, 0 runs

Bulldog Defensive Highlights:

· 3B Ryan Dalton makes a great grab and a long throw for the first out in the first, 5-3 Dalton-to-Miller

· P Clint VanTilborg shows some speed covering the bag on the 3-1 putout for the third out in the first, Miller-to-VanTilborg

· P Clint VanTilborg flashed the leather by snagging the line drive comebacker and toss to Miller at first for an inning-ending double play in the second.

· CF Daniel Rockett makes a diving catch in right center for the second out in the seventh.

Winning Pitcher: Sheppard

Losing Pitcher: Duncan

Extra Base Hits, FBA: HR – Doerr; 2B – Dalton, Mulcahey

Extra Base Hits, DUL: 2B – Merritt, Sheppard, J. Medina, Kane

Score by inning:

Submitted by: Tom Miller