Stone Bridge Tops Chantilly

By Matt Brooks (Contact)

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

The biggest question facing No. 8 Stone Bridge heading into this season was simple: How would they replace the loss of two of the best starting pitchers in the AAA Liberty District in Tyler Basso and Ty Weaver and shutdown closer Mike Palmer?

With a strong performance from a first-time starter and three scoreless innings of relief from the bullpen, the Bulldogs took a big step toward answering that question Monday night in a 4-2 victory over reigning Concorde District champions Chantilly at home in Ashburn.

Junior right-hander Taylor Lambke, making his first start for Stone Bridge, gave his team four strong innings, allowing just one earned run on seven hits while working his way out of trouble in all four frames. Senior lefty Ryan Cummings pitched two scoreless innings of relief to pickup the win and senior Johnny Bladel slammed the door in the seventh, firing his fastball over the plate and striking out two of the five batters he faced to seal the victory.

"That was a pleasant surprise because he's a new guy and this is really the first time we've seen him in game action," Stone Bridge Coach Sam Plank said of Lambke. "He pitched great and Ryan Cummings came in and does what he always does, throws that knuckleball and two-seamer and then the flamethrower came in to close it."

After the Chargers (5-1) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning, Stone Bridge tied the score on Lambke's sacrifice fly which played senior first baseman Patrick Thompson. Chantilly reclaimed the lead in the fourth when Lambke made an errant throw on a pickoff attempt that sent Timmy Bollinger to third base. Then Lambke fielded a groundball by Danny Bates but fired the throw wide of Thompson at first base, allowing Bollinger to score the go-ahead run.

The Bulldogs (4-1, 2-1 AAA Liberty) bounced back in the bottom of the fifth, just when it appeared Chantilly's lefty senior ace Jordan Johnson had settled into his groove. After a Pat Piccolo flyout, senior leftfielder Bryce Williams double to deep leftfield. Sophomore second baseman Spenser Rositano followed with a bloop single to shallow left that plated Williams and tied the score at 2-2. Rositano went to second on the throw home and ended up at third when Chantilly catcher Matt Dewitt threw the ball into centerfield. Senior right fielder Michael Prince brought Rositano in on an RBI single to short and the Bulldogs had their first lead, 3-2.

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No. 8 Bulldogs Beat Chantilly

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Stone Bridge outfielders Johnny Bladel (15) and Michael Prince (5) juggle a baseball before the start of their game against Chantilly on Monday night in Ashburn. Prince had the game-winning RBI in the fifth inning and Bladel pitched a scoreless seventh to record his second save of the season as the Bulldogs won the game 4-2. (Matt Brooks)

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Stone Bridge senior outfielder Johnny Bladel flys out to left field in the bottom of the third inning. (Matt Brooks)

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Stone Bridge closer Johnny Bladel gets Chantilly's Danny Bates looking to end the game and give the Bulldogs a 4-2 victory. (Matt Brooks)

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Stone Bridge added an insurance run in the sixth after sophomore designated hitter J.J. White hammered a two-out double to the wall in right-center field, his third hit of the game. Plank then pulled Cummings from the game, reinserting Lambke to hit in his spot in the order. Lambke rewarded his coach with by blasting the first pitch he saw to the wall in right-center for a standup RBI triple, giving the Bulldogs the final margin.

"The beauty of that is it looks great when it works," Plank said of the decision to re-enter Lambke. "It doesn't always work out that way, but baseball is about percentages and you just have to play the percentages."

From there, Bladel came in and thwarted Chantilly’s hopes of a two-out rally by getting Bates to strike out looking to end the game and tally his second save.

"I'm really comfortable in the closer role, just coming in and letting it rip for an inning," Bladel said. "Your adrenalin's going, you can throw as hard as you can – you don't have to pace yourself to throw more innings. It's just one inning to go out there and gas it."

Lambke was the story for the Bulldogs on the mound, escaping jams in each of his four innings. In the first he struck out Adam Fridy swinging with two outs and runners on the corners. In the second he got Bates looking and Dewitt swinging to get out of a one-out, bases loaded situation. In the fourth, the bases were full of Chargers once again when Lambke got Roger Stittmatter to strike out looking on three pitches, and in the forth inning, with runners on second and third, he got Ryan King swinging and then induced a Fridy groundout to end the frame.

"My breaking ball and my splitter were working pretty well and they couldn't touch those pitches," Lambke said. "But they're a great hitting team and they fought until the end."

White led the way at the plate with a 3 for 3 night that included a pair of doubles and a single and Prince added two hits and the go-ahead RBI in the fifth. Rositano and Lambke both went 1 for 3 with an RBI.

The Chargers got a strong effort from Johnson who went five and two-thirds innings, scattering eight hits and striking out six while giving up three earned runs. Bollinger was 2 for 2 with an RBI single, a double and two walks and Kevin Mcgrath added a pair of hits. The Chargers' starting two-through-five hitters finished a combined 1 for 12 at the plate.

Stone Bridge returns to league play Tuesday night when they visit the Marshall Statesmen.

"When we lost to McLean, I said, 'It's March. The only thing I care about is what we're doing in May,'" Plank said of his team's loss to the Highlanders two weeks ago. "People are going to beat each other up in our district. Madison lost to Woodson, Woodson lost to Marshall, Madison beat McLean … it's already started. So we've just got to take one game at a time."

Notes: With his two doubles on the night, White is already up to five for the season. He leads the team in batting average at .467, hits (7) and total bases (14)…So much for having a young and inexperienced staff. Through five games, the Bulldogs pitchers have a combined 1.91 ERA and a .234 batting average against.

Extra Points

By Paul Tenorio and Matt Brooks