Baseball comes back to beat Bulldogs in finale

The Blazers ended the season on a high note, coming back from a 2-0 fourth inning deficit to defeat Churchill 9-4. Blair finishes the regular season 12-8, its second best record in a decade.

The game began slowly as neither team had a runner touch home plate in the first three innings. While the Bulldogs have won only one game this season, they put up a strong fight in the first half of the game. The bulldogs allowing only two hits and senior Jonas Wilson also allowed only two base-knocks in the first three frames.

In the fourth inning, the Bulldogs broke through with a leadoff triple and later a double which nearly left the park to put the first two runs on the working scoreboard in Wilson's final inning.

Fortunately the Blazers seemed to take this as a wake up call, as they scored seven runs in the home half of the fourth inning to take a commanding, game-winning lead. The first two Blazer runs were scored when junior first baseman Cody Simpson uncorked a Herculean shot to right field, clearing the fence with senior second baseman Sam Boone on base. Boone finished with two singles, two stolen bases, a run and an RBI. Simpson's homer ignited the Blazers, as the next four batters reached base. Sophomore Tommy Dugan, who blasted a triple in the third inning, hit a two-run double in the fourth.

Coach John Macdonald believes that the Blazers showed a lot of composure in the game's turnaround. "We showed a lot of character to comeback. We were poised," he said.

In the fifth inning, seniors Ian Scroggs and Sam Feinstein batted in two more insurance runs to put the game out of reach. Senior Grant Staking relieved Wilson and pitched superbly in relief, only allowing two hits and two unearned runs in the final three innings.

Simpson accounted the fourth-inning heroics for the comeback. "We started off kind of slow but after the home run the game turned around. We kept hitting after that and towards the end of the game our pitchers shut them down," he said.

This game should give the Blazers a preview of what to expect in the first round of the playoffs. On May 14 at 2:30 p.m. they will travel to Churchill to play this same Bulldog team. According to Macdonald, "We'll be playing with more confidence than they will."