Dawgs and Rams Fit to be Tied, 10-10

The Bulldog Sophomore team remained unbeaten in the Katy Tournament with a spirited 10 – 10 tie against the daunting Mayde Creek Rams in the second game of their Friday Night double header.

The home standing Rams would take an early lead in the bottom of the second by plating the first run of the night after the Dawgs left the bases loading in the top half of the inning.

Austin came back in the top of the third inning, taking advantage of the wildness of the Mayde Creek starting pitcher, who would issue five free passes in just over two innings of work.  The inning began with leadoff batter and C Brady Langston working a full count walk.  2B Matt McQuillen would follow with a fielder’s choice ground that was misplayed by the pitcher as they tried to get the lead runner.  Two men on, CF Chris Miller would draw a free pass on four pitches to load the bases and send the Ram hurler to the showers.  LF Sean Pringle worked the new pitcher for an RBI walk, scoring Langston with the first Bulldog run.  1B Eric Abney followed with a deep sacrifice fly to center field, allowing McQuillen to cross the plate and give the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead.

The lead would not hold, however, as the Rams would add two to their tally in the bottom of the inning by virtue of a leadoff walk and two single to take a 3-2 lead after three complete.

The Dawgs would jump back on top in this see-saw battle in the top of the fourth.  Starting pitcher  Brian Martin led off the inning with a walk, and was moved into scoring position by RF Eric Bermea.  Langston poked a single into left field to put two on, and McQuillen would follow with an RBI tallying ground ball to the right side of the infield to tie the game.  Miller’s single to left field would plate Langston with his second run of the game, and give the lead back to the Dawgs, 4-3.

After working out of trouble in the bottom of the fourth when Martin would record two strikeouts, the Dags would add another run to the board in the top of the fifth.  SS Sean Stacy took a free pass to the base pads, and Martin would help himself with a run-scoring single to center to extend the lead to 5-3.

Mayde Creek would erupt for six runs in the bottom of the fifth, as their leadoff batter would reach first on a dropped third strike, followed by five consecutive singles by the Rams during a total 7 hit barrage that would give Mayde Creek a 9-5 lead after five.

But as the temperatures cooled the Dawgs bats heated up in the top of the sixth inning, as they scored five of their own in an exciting inning that would leave the Bulldog fans and the Mayde Creek coach a little horse tomorrow morning.  The inning would begin with Langston drawing his second walk of the game.  McQuillen would follow with a deep triple down the right field line scoring Langston.  Miller singled to left to plate McQuillen for the second run of the inning, moving to second when the Ram fielder would misplay ball.  Pringle would walk to put two on, and Abney would follow with a single to right field that would allow two runs to score when once again a Ram outfielder would not be able to cleanly collect the ball.  Abney would cross the plate with the fifth run of the inning when 3B Bo Sheridan would collect an RBI.

Trying to protect a 10-9 lead in the bottom of the inning, the Dawgs would retire the lead off batter but put the following man on after a full count walk.  The speedy Ram was able to steal two bases, taking advantage of an errant throw on the second to plate the tying run.  The Dawgs buckled down, however, with P Eric Bermea inducing a pop-up to the first baseman before giving way to relief pitcher Sean Stacy who would strike out the only batter he would face to end the game.

The Bulldogs play their final game of the tournament Saturday at 1:30 at Seven Lakes.

For those of you playing “Stump-the-Ump”, the correct answer to tonight’s question was (d):  “A strike shall be called on a legal pitch which touches the batters person as the batter strikes at it (dead ball) (Definitions 1.0).”  You may pick up your prize at the Mayde Creek concession stand.

Bulldog Offensive Highlights

• Hits (6), Chris Miller (2), Brady Langston, Matt McQuillen, Eric Abney, Brian Martin
• RBI (8), Chris Miller (2), Eric Abney (2), Matt McQuillen, Sean Pringle, Bo Sheridan, Brian Martin
• Extra Base Hits (1), Matt McQuillen (3B)

Bulldog Defensive Highlights

• 3B Bo Sheridan making a nice back-hand stab in the hole and long throw to get the runner at first
• 3B Bo Sheridan initially bobbling the ball but staying with it to make a long throw to just beat the Ram lead off batter in the sixth inning, 1B Eric Abney making a great stretch to record the out

Bulldog Pitching Highlights

• Brian Martin, 4-1/3 Innings, 5 K’s, 2 BB’s, 10 Hits, 9 Runs (7 earned)
• Eric Bermea, 1-1/3 Innings, 2 K’s, 1 BB’s, 2 Hits, 1 Runs (0 earned)
• Sean Stacy, 1/3 Innings, 1 K’s, 0 BB’s, 0 Hits, 0 Runs (0 earned)

Submitted by: Allen Miller