Stone Bridge Rolls Past Woodson 5-3, Now 10-1
FAIRFAX, VA - The Stone Bridge Bulldogs headed to Fairfax this evening, to take on the Woodson Cavaliers. Something had to give tonight, as both teams entered 4-0 in Liberty district play. The fans in attendance saw an exciting game, as the Bulldogs prevailed in a 5-3 thriller. Looking over the scoresheet, it looked like everyone contributed to this win. Head Coach Sam Plank put big Ty Weaver on the mound, while Chris Warren countered with Greg Whitaker.
Sr SS Mike Stancik flew out deep to center to start the game. Jr CF Alec Whys (subbing for an ill Matt Irwin), popped out. Jr LF Johnny Bladel was hit by a pitch. With Sr C Brian Wheaton at the plate, Bladel stole second. Wheaton laced a single, scoring Bladel. Jr RF Michael Prince tripled, scoring coutesy runner Pat Piccolo. Jr 1B Patrick Thompson walked and stole second. Sr 2B Collin Pearson flew out to end the frame. Dylan Robeson grounded out to Basso. Brendan Breslin grounded to Basso as well. Weaver struck out Jacob Morley to end the inning.
Whitaker struck out Basso to start the second. Fr DH J.J. White singled. But Stancik ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. The Cavs were able to tie it up in the second. Connor Finnerty singled. Jack Dunn grounded to Pearson, with Finnerty moving to second. Max Waizenegger singled, moving Finnerty over to third. Waizenegger then stole second. Bobby McCloud ripped a double to deep center, scoring both runners and tying the game. Wyatt Moore grounded to Stancik, who saw McCloud trying to take third. He ran at McCloud, threw to Basso who ran him back towards second. Basso threw to Pearson, who applied the tag for the second out. With Colin Madsen at the plate, Wheaton threw down to Pearson, gunning down Moore on an attempted steal, ending the frame.
The Bulldog went down in order in the third. Whys grounded out, Bladel struck out and Wheaton popped out. Weaver returned the favor. Madsen tried bunting his way on, Wheaton made a nice play in front of the plate, throwing down to Thompson for the out. Robeson grounded to Stancik. Breslin grounded out to Basso.
In the fourth, Prince led off with his second hit of the game, a single. Thompson flew out. With Pearson batting, Prince stole second. Basso then hit a gap double, plating Prince for the lead. Coach Warren brought in Joey Carleton in relief for Whitaker. White grounded out to end the inning. Weaver continued to cruise. Morley grounded to Stancik. Finnerty was called out on strikes and Dunn flew out to Bladel.
Stone Bridge went down in order in the fifth. Stancik, Whys and Bladel all grounded out. Waizenegger grounded to Stancik. McCloud flew out to Bladel. Moore reached on an infield error by Weaver. He moved to second on a wild pitch. Weaver settled down and induced a ground out by pinch hitter Marty Selgas to Basso.
The Bulldogs couldn't get untracked in the sixth. Wheaton struck out. Prince grounded out. Thompson flew out deep to left. While his pitch count was quite low, Weaver began to struggle with his mechanics and control in the sixth. Robeson led off with a walk. Breslin grounded out to Basso, Robeson moving to second. Coach Plank decided to intentionally walk Morley. Weaver uncorked a wild pitch, moving the runners up 90 feet. Weaver bore down and got Finnerty on strikes. After a 2-0 count on Dunn, Coach Plank decided to intentionally walk him. It looked like Weaver was going to escape the jam, but Basso could not hold on to a liner by Waizenegger, with Robeson scoring on the error. Coach Plank went to the pen, bringing in Sr RHP Mike Palmer. Palmer got McCloud on strikes to end the sixth tied at 3.
Pearson led off the seventh with a double. Basso squared up to bunt. He placed it beautifully down the third base line, Moore had to rush his throw which was wild. Pearson scored on the error and Basso moved to second. White grounded out, but Basso was able to move to third. Coach Warren brought the infield in. Stancik fisted a ball over the drawn in infield, singling in Basso. Matt Irwin pinch hit for Whys and flew out. With Bladel at the plate, Stancik was picked off first end the frame but not before the Bulldogs had a two run lead. Palmer hit Moore with a pitch to start the bottom of the seventh. Palmer then punched out Selgas on a called third strike. Robeson hit a slow grounder to Stancik, who threw to Pearson for the force, but the throw was a bit low and Pearson couldn't turn the double play. Breslin then picked up a seeing eye single up the middle just beyond both Pearson and Stancik's dives. Woodson had a chance with two outs and arguably their best hitter in Morley at the plate. But Palmer won this battle, getting Morely out on strikes before a bunch of loud and happy Bulldog players and fans.
Palmer picks up his second win of the season as Stone Bridge moves to 10-1, 5-0 in Liberty district play and in sole posession of first place. Next week will be a big week for the Bulldogs, as they have three huge district games. All 3 are at home. They face the Langley Saxons on Monday, April 14. Then it's the Madison Warhawks on Wednesday the 16th. They wrap up the week hosting the McLean Highlanders on Friday. First pitch for all 3 games is 6:30PM.
