Blazers one-hit Bulldogs in first round win

CHURCHILL HIGH SCHOOL, MAY 14-

The Blazers won their thirteenth game of the season, and more importantly advanced to the second round of the 2004 playoffs with a commanding 11-2 win over the 1-16 Bulldogs. The win comes just two games after a 9-4 defeat of the Bulldogs in the season finale, so the Blazers knew exactly what they were up against today.

Coach John Macdonald was pleased with his team's performances against Churchill. "I'm proud that we pulled out two games with them. We proved we were the better team," he said.

The pitching tandem of junior Cody Simpson and senior Kent Anderson was nearly flawless. Simpson struck out the first Bulldog batter of the game in three pitches, suggesting that the Blazers would keep the Churchill bats at bay all game. Simpson was impeccable, as he struck out six batters and did not give up a single hit in four scoreless innings.

Anderson replaced Simpson in the fifth inning and nearly picked up where Simpson left off. Unfortunately in the fifth, a run-scoring single- the Bulldogs' only hit of the game- and a steal of home accounted for Churchill's only two runs. Anderson picked it up in the sixth and seventh innings as an error in both innings were responsible for the only two Bulldog baserunners. These were two of the only three Blair errors of the game as the Blazers, most noticeably junior catcher Mike Sindall, played overall quality defense.

Quite like the May 12 game, the Blazers were cold at the plate early, sending many easy ground balls to the shortstop. Junior Chris Madert's single in the second frame was the Blazers' only hit of the first three innings. In the third inning, junior Justin Roman, pinch-running for Simpson, who walked, used heads-up baserunning to score the Blazers' first run of the game.

Senior co-captain Tom Foley played a superb game; he hit two doubles, scored twice and had an RBI. Foley led off the fourth inning with a double and scored on one of senior Danny Roman's two doubles. Sophomore Tommy Dugan and senior Alex Rumbaugh scored in the fifth inning, and Roman and senior Sam Feinstein scored in the sixth. The Blazers batted around and scored five runs in the final inning, which included a two-run double by Simpson who later scored.

According to Foley, the Blazers continued their season-long trend of hitting progressively better at the plate as the game progresses. "After the first time through, we started hitting well, and once we started hitting, we just kept on rolling. That's what we've been doing all season," he said.

The Blazers move on to face Sherwood at home on May 17 at 4:00 p.m. The Blazers will face a significantly tougher squad in their next game. Macdonald feels that "We need to play better to compete with better teams."