Bulldogs Finally Get Past Madison

By Matt Brooks (Contact)

Thursday, April 17, 2008

There's something about playing Madison that makes the Stone Bridge Bulldogs stray from their disciplined, poised and hard-nosed style of play. Coming into Wednesday’s AAA Liberty District matchup in Ashburn, the Warhawks owned a 6-0 record all-time against Stone Bridge and in each of those games, the Bulldogs always seemed to find strange and new ways to lose.

But on a night when a win would give the home team a perfect 8-0 record at the halfway point in the district schedule, the Bulldogs showed why this season is different. With another tremendous effort from senior starter Tyler Weaver and just enough offense, Stone Bridge (12-1, 7-0) exorcised its red and black demons by defeating Madison 2-1.

“We’ve always found a way to lose at the end of games,” Stone Bridge coach Sam Plank said. “We threw one in the dugout one year after having a guy picked off at second. It’s almost like a curse. The first time we played them last year, their first two runs were scored on balks and we ended up losing 3-2. But every time we play them it’s just a great atmosphere and a great baseball game.”

This was no exception. With the stands packed and the music blaring, Weaver and Madison starter Andrew Schrock battled it out in a quintessential pitchers’ duel.

The Warhawks jumped on Stone Bridge’s hard-throwing righty in the first when Casey Turner’s single up the middle put runners on first and second with no outs. But Weaver got out of the jam with some help from his defense. First, Brig Tison lined out to second baseman Collin Pearson, who stepped on second to double up the lead runner.

Photo: Matt Brooks

Stone Bridge senior pitcher Tyler Weaver delivers a fastball to Madison's Ricardo Perez in the second inning of a game Wednesday night in Ashburn. The Bulldogs won the matchup 2-1.

Then designated hitter Ted Williams hit a grounder to first but Weaver missed the throw, allowing Williams to reach on an error while Turner rounded third and headed for home. But Pearson, backing up the play at first, threw a dart to catcher Brian Wheaton, who put down the tag to get Turner just before he touched the plate, ending the threat and the inning.

“Our defense was great tonight,” Weaver said. “We’ve got everybody working really well behind me which makes things easier on me.”

Stone Bridge returned the favor in the bottom half of the inning. After center fielder Matt Irwin singled to left, junior left fielder Johnny Bladel drove in the first run of the game with a double to right-center. The Bulldogs loaded the bases with another walk and a hit batsman but Pearson flied out to left to end the inning and Stone Bridge’s scoring output for the night.

“Johnny Bladel – that’s a big-time hit,” Plank said. “And I tell the players, big-time players have to get big-time hits in big-time games.”

Both pitchers settled in after the rocky first inning with Schrock retiring the next seven batters he faced in order and Weaver only allowing one base-runner to reach second until the sixth inning. The Warhawks finally got on the board in the sixth after Tison reached on an infield single, stole second base and moved to third on a balk. Two batters later, catcher Alex Jacquez drove in Madison’s only run with a groundout to short. The Warhawks got at least one runner on base in every inning but stranded one in all seven frames.

The Bulldogs didn’t find much offense, either, with Schrock throwing hard fastballs to get ahead and then pulling the string on a big curveball that baffled Stone Bridge hitters all night. Twice the Bulldogs loaded the bases and ended up with nothing to show for it, and in the sixth they wasted a lead-off triple by Pearson with three straight strikeouts to end the inning. Schrock allowed six hits in six innings and struck out 10 while walking four in the losing effort.

“That curveball was just devastating,” Plank said. “And we kept helping him out by swinging at the curveball in the dirt. (Madison coach) Pudge (Gjormand) does a great job. He’s going to mix it up, keep you off balance, and that’s why it’s always a duel when we coach against each other.”

Weaver (4-0) allowed one run on five hits with two walks, three strikeouts and two hit batsmen in 6 1/3 innings. Plank left him in to pick up the complete game victory but after striking out David Fathalakhani, he allowed a hard single past third base to Matt Zepp and Plank turned to senior closer Mike Palmer. The side-armer needed only one pitch to get Kyle McIntyre to fly out to left and then struck out Turner swinging on a nasty curveball to end the game and record his second save.

“Get outs and get the job done, that’s all I was trying to do,” Palmer said. “That last out felt real good. It doesn’t get any better than that – a big breaking ball for strike three.”

Since a 5-2 loss to Thomas Johnson on April 5, the Bulldogs have won four straight and are alone at the top of the district with a two-game lead on Madison and seven games to play. They don’t have much time to relish the big win as they host a tough McLean team on Friday – a team they beat 6-3 to open the league schedule. But at least for one night, Plank and his players could celebrate.

“I told the guys before the game, ‘Make sure you remember this game for the rest of your life because not many guys get to play in this type of atmosphere in a high school baseball game,’” Plank said. “So I said, ‘Remember it, enjoy it and have fun.’”

Tagged: baseball, high school sports, Stone Bridge High School

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