Bulldogs Blitz Through Tourney

By Matt Brooks (Contact)

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

The Stone Bridge Bulldogs (4-0) swept through the Alexandria City Baseball Championship over the weekend with convincing wins in all four of their games. The tournament, hosted by West Potomac High School, included the Bishop O'Connell Knights, the Edison Eagles, the R.E. Lee Lancers and the host Wolverines.

Stone Bridge 12 – Bishop O'Connell 5

The Bulldogs kicked off Saturday's double-header with a 12-5 victory over the Knights, capitalizing on erratic O'Connell pitching to draw eight walks and showcasing their speed with nine steals. Center fielder Matt Irwin led the charge at the plate, driving in three runs on two hits, while 3B Tyler Basso and DH J.J. White each knocked in two. Mike Palmer pitched three innings of one-hit ball in relief of starter Tyler Weaver to pick up the win for the Bulldogs.

Score by Inning    1 2 3 4 5 6 7     R H E

Stone Bridge         0 1 4 2 1 4 0 - 12 12 5

Bishop O'Connell 0 0 1 4 0 0 0 -   5  6   5

WP – Mike Palmer (1-0)

LP – Sean Cabrera

Stone Bridge 13 – Edison 2 (5 innings)

In the second-half of Saturday's double-header, the Bulldogs took the field against the Edison Eagles of the AAA National District. Johnny Bladel knocked in four runs on three hits as Stone Bridge took advantage of six fielding miscues by the Eagles. Bladel also picked up his first win of the season, pitching a scoreless fourth inning and striking out two in relief of starter Tyler Basso.

By Inning         1 2 3 4 5 6 7     R H E

Edison               0 0 2 0 0 0 0 - 2  4 6

Stone Bridge   4 3 4 2 0 0 0 - 13 7 1

WP – Johnny Bladel (1-0)

LP – Isaac Barnett

Stone Bridge 15 – Lee 0

After heavy rains forced the postponement of Monday's scheduled matchup between the Bulldogs and Lancers, both teams were forced to saddle up for another double-header on Tuesday. Stone Bridge wasted no time in this one, building a 5-0 lead after a four-run second that included the first of Patrick Thompson's two home runs. The junior first baseman ripped a 2-1 pitch over the left field wall and followed it up with another bomb to left to lead off the sixth. That would have been more than enough offense for the Bulldogs, but they exploded for another six runs in the seventh to put the game well out of reach. Tyler Basso picked up the victory, striking out nine in six innings of one-hit ball.

By Inning        1 2 3 4 5 6 7    R   H  E

Stone Bridge   1 4 0 3 0 1 6 - 15 11 0

Lee                     0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -  0   1   4

WP – Tyler Basso (1-0)

LP – Sean Ruggles

Stone Bridge 10 – West Potomac 1

The Bulldogs continued their tournament domination with another run-away victory against the host Wolverines. Junior right-hander Nick Fialdini kept West Potomac's hitters guessing, striking out seven and giving up a single run on two hits in six impressive innings of work. Junior left-fielder Johnny Bladel blasted two home runs to lead the offense and Stone Bridge completed its clean sweep of the tournament field.

Score by Inning  1 2 3 4 5 6 7     R   H  E

West Potomac     0 0 0 0 0 1 0 - 1   2    1

Stone Bridge        2 2 1 1 0 4 0 - 10 10 1

WP – Nick Fialdini (1-0)

LP – Reed Bryant

Stone Bridge takes on the Wolverines of West Potomac again today in the tournament championship at 2pm at West Potomac High School. The Bulldogs are off too a great start, especially on the base-paths, where they've already tallied 28 stolen bases. Their power in the batter's box thus far is another good sign as they've already hit more home runs (5) than they did all of last season.

Extra Points

By Paul Tenorio and Matt Brooks