Bulldogs Suffer Letdown; Lose to McLean 4-1
ASHBURN, VA - The Stone Bridge Bulldogs were trying to avoid a let down after their big win over Madison earlier in the week. They hosted the McLean Highlanders on a beautiful evening in Ashburn. Head Coach Sam Plank put Sr RHP Tyler Basso on this hill, while McLean Head Coach John Thomas put sophomore righty Denis Buckley on the bump.
Lead off hitter Reily Beiro reached on a hit by pitch. He was able to steal second, but Basso got Chris Russo looking for strike three. Sean Fitzgerald was caught looking as well. Then Basso finished off Buckley with a K to end the frame. Jr RF Michael Prince struck out looking. Sr CF Matt Irwin K'd as well. Jr LF Johnny Bladel singled. He moved to second on a wild pitch. Sr SS Mike Stancik doubled, plating Bladel. Sr C Brian Wheaton popped out to end the inning.
In the second, Erik Payne doubled down the right field line. Quinn Pippin doubled to the gap, scoring Payne tying the game. David Roffman had a great 9 pitch at bat before finally flying out to Bladel. Jim Bodson struck out and Bret Bleiweis grounded to Sr 2B Collin Pearson to end the frame. Basso led off with a single. But courtesy runner Ryan Cummings was picked off for the first out. Jr 1B Patrick Thompson struck out. Pearson grounded out.
Beiro singled to start the third. Russo executed a nice sac bunt, moving Beiro to second. Fitgerald hit a grounder to Jr 3B Pat Piccolo. Piccolo held Beiro at second, making the out at first. But Beiro tried to catch the Bulldogs napping and moving to third on the throw. Thompson fired the ball over to Stancik, who was covering third applied the tag and got the third out of the inning. Fr DH J.J. White, Prince and Irwin all struck out.
In the fourth, Buckley led off with a single. Payne doubled, moving Buckley to third. Basso buckled down and got Pippin on a called third strike. Roffman hit a sinking liner to center. Irwin had to run a long way, but the ball hit the heel of his glove and dropped for an error. Buckley scored on the play, Payne moved to third. With a 1-2 count, Coach Thomas called a double steal. Bodson was called out on strikes. Wheaton threw down to Pearson, who cut the ball off and threw back down to Wheaton who applied the tag on Payne for the third out. Bladel grounded out. Stancik drew a walk. Wheaton ripped a double, but Stancik had to hold at third. Basso grounded to third and the runners had to hold. Thompson struck out to end the threat.
With Basso pitching on Monday earlier in the week, he was looking a bit tired after the fourth. Coach Plank made the pitching change, bringing in Jr RHP Nick Fialdini. Bleiveis was called out on strikes. Beiro grounded to Pearson. Russo walked. Then Wheaton gunned down Russo trying to steal to end the frame. Pearson singled to lead off the fifth for the Bulldogs. White walked. Prince laid down a bunt, but Pearson was forced out at third. Irwin struck out. Bladel flew out to end the threat.
McLean picked up two more runs in the sixth. Fitzgerald singled. Buckley popped out to Thompson. With Payne at the plate, Fitzgerald stole second. Payne singled, scoring Fitzgerald. Pippin bombed a triple to the center field wall with Payne scoring on the play. Plank decided to make a pitching change, bringing in Sr RHP Mike Palmer. Pinch Hitter Kendall Wilkins grounded to Stancik. Palmer got Bodson on a called third strike to stop the bleeding. Stancik grounded out on a bang-bang play. Wheaton drew a walk. But Basso and Thompson struck out to end the inning.
In the seventh, John Scholla grounded out to Pearson. Beiro drew a walk. He stole second. But then was gunned down by Wheaton trying to steal third. Russo struck out to end the frame. Pearson led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk. Jr Pinch hitter Bryce Williams grounded out, but Pearson moved to second on the play. Prince grounded out, Pearson moving another 90 feet to third. Irwin grounded out to end the game.
With the loss, the Bulldogs drop to 12-2 on the year and are now 7-1 in Liberty district play. However, they are still in first place as every other Liberty team has at least two losses. Stone Bridge will try and get back on the winning track on Tuesday, April 22 as they travel to Alexandria to face the Thomas Jefferson Colonials. First pitch is set for 6:30PM.
