Excellent starting pitching, timely hitting, and air-tight defense are usually a good combination for winning a ball game, but the Clements Rangers found out that wasn’t enough to beat the playoff-bound Bulldogs Saturday afternoon, who erased a 5-run deficit in the bottom of the seventh inning with 9 runs, the last 4 coming on a walk-off Grand Slam from C Matt Hills. With the win, the Bulldogs earned a share of the District 23-5A crown, matching 13-4 records along with Dulles, Kempner, and Travis.

Having been eliminated from playoff contention the night before, Clements still showed up ready to play, and got things started with a run in the top of the first. The Bulldogs countered with 2 of their own in the bottom half of the inning. CF Daniel Rockett singled on the first pitch from Clements Starter J.J. Correro; SS Barrett Barnes followed with a full-count walk. Both came around to score on a triple into right-center by LF Blake Doerr.

Clements tied it up at 2 with a run in the second, then broke it open with 6 runs in the fourth off of Bulldog Starter A.J. Glasshof. The Rangers started the inning with 5 straight hits, but a hit batter, an infield error, and another hit with two outs ended Glasshof’s afternoon with the Rangers ahead 8-2.

On the other side of the ledger, the Bulldogs couldn’t muster any offense in the second, third, or fourth, as the Rangers played some very solid defense. The ‘Dogs did break through in the fifth, on an infield hit by RF Tony Gigliotti, and a 2-out, 2-run HR by SS Barrett Barnes to close the gap to 8-4.

Bulldog Reliever Cale Winans, who came in to close out the fourth, hung up a couple of zeros in the fifth and sixth before giving up a single run in the top of the seventh to make the score 9-4. His efforts at keeping the Rangers in check paid off, as the Bulldogs staged their biggest comeback of the year in the bottom of the seventh.

C Matt Hills led off with a first-pitch single, and 3B Luke Mulcahey hit the next pitch over the center fielder’s head for a stand-up double. With Scott Ballard pitching in relief of Correro, Hills scored on a passed ball, Gigiotti walked, and Rockett was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Clements then gave Brian Hethcoat the unenviable task of coming in to face Barrett Barnes with the bases loaded and nobody out. After working the count to 3-1, Barnes laced a two-run double to score Mulcahey and Gigliotti. Doerr followed one-out later with a line drive single to right, his third hit of the game, which scored Rockett and Barnes and tied the game at 9. 1B Drew Miller doubled down the left field line to move Doerr to third, who was the winning run. With an open base, DH Erik Schweiger was intentionally walked, and Clements brought in Andrew Bjorngjeld to face Hills. With a 1-1 count, Hills launched a shot over the fence in left for a walk-off Grand Slam, to put a decidedly happy ending to Senior Night & the regular season.

Next up for the Bulldogs – tie-breaker game for playoff seeding, against Dulles, Monday, 7 p.m., at Elkins High School. Second tie-breaker game on Tuesday, 7 p.m., TBD.

Bulldog Offensive Highlights:

· 11 hits for the Bulldogs, 6 for extra bases: a triple and two singles for LF Blake Doerr; HR and a double for SS Barrett Barnes; GSHR and a single for C Matt Hills; a double each for 1B Drew Miller and 3B Luke Mulcahey; and a single each for CF Daniel Rockett and RF Tony Gigliotti.

· 12 RBIs on the game: a trio of Bulldogs with 4 RBIs each: Barnes, Doerr, and Hills.

· Barrett Barnes hit his eighth HR of the season, for the team lead.

Bulldog Pitching Highlights:

· A.J. Glasshof, 3.2 innings, 3 K’s, 1 BB, 1 HPB, 9 hits, 8 runs, 4 earned runs.

· Cale Winans (2-0, 2-0), 3.1 innings, 3 K’s, 1 BB, 5 hits, 1 run.

Bulldog Defensive Highlights:

· LF Blake Doerr makes a great catch for the second out in the third, then follows up by cutting off a ball in the gap to hold the next batter to a single.

· 6-3 double play for the first two outs in the fifth inning, SS Barnes to 1B Miller.

· CF Daniel Rockett ranges into right-center for a catch and the third out in the fifth.

· 2B Ryan Dalton snags a ball up the middle and makes the 4-3 putout, Dalton-to-Miller.

Winning Pitcher: Cale Winans (2-0, 2-0)

Losing Pitcher: Brian Hethcoat

Extra Base Hits, CLE: 2B – Casey (2)

Extra Base Hits, FBA: HR – Barnes, Hills (GS); 3B – Doerr; 2B – Barnes, Miller, Mulcahey

Score by inning:

Submitted by: Tom Miller