Bulldogs fall short in Dora Tournament

The Gainesville Bulldogs were in action last Tuesday night. The Bulldogs faced a tough Thayer Bobcats team who were ranked #4 in Class 1 at the time. The Bulldogs allowed one run in the first inning and could not respond in the bottom half, but were able to hold the Bobcats in the second inning. In the bottom half of the second inning the offensive opportunities looked bleak, but with two outs the Bulldogs were able get a rally going. The Bulldogs put three runs on the board and added two more runs in the bottom half of the third inning, putting the Bulldogs up 5-1. The Bobcats were not ranked #4 for no reason, but they fell short in their comeback attempt. The Bulldogs prevailed with a 5-4 victory. Aaron Swanson took the win. Zach McKinzie, Dallas DeWeese, Aaron Swanson, Allan McKinzie and Alex Lane all had hits for the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs were in competition over the weekend in the Dora Wooden Bat Tournament. In first round action the fifth-seeded Bulldogs faced the fourth-seeded Seymour Tigers. The Bulldogs were in a tight battle with the Tigers through three innings, trailing 3-2, but failed to make a move the rest of the game, falling behind 8-2 in the bottom of the fourth in an error-filled inning. The Bulldogs were not able to capitalize on having runners in scoring position nearly all game long. That and the fielding errors allowed the Tigers to escape with an 8-2 victory, knocking the Bulldogs into the consolation bracket. Brad Hamm led the way, going 2-3 with a double and single. Dallas DeWeese added two more hits for the Bulldogs.

In the second round of the Dora tournament, the Bulldogs faced the Lions from Bakersfield. The Bulldogs got on the board early with a leadoff double from Brad Hamm and a RBI base hit from Dallas DeWeese. The Bulldogs added three more runs in the bottom of the third inning on a couple walks and a RBI triple by Kase Wilson and RBI base hit by Zach McKinzie. The Lions finally were able to answer with three runs of their own in the top of the fifth inning, with the Bulldogs assisting in the effort with three straight errors to allow the runs. Even with the errors by the Bulldogs, they escaped with a 4-3 victory to face the Liberty Eagles in the consolation game. Mason Morpeth and Kyle Clayton each had doubles. Alex Lane added another hit for the Bulldogs.

In the consolation game, the Eagles jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning, but the Bulldogs were able to answer with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning to take a 2-1 lead. After the initial inning, both pitchers seemed to settle in, and neither pitcher allowed another run until the fourth inning, when each team added another run to the scoreboard. The Bulldogs added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, extending their lead to 5-2 going into the final inning of play. The Bulldogs were three outs away from victory, but the Liberty Eagles had other plans. The Bulldogs allowed seven runs on two hits and three errors in the top half of the seventh inning, falling behind 9-2. The Bulldogs were not able to answer and lost 9-2 to take sixth place. Aaron Swanson had two hits and Brad Hamm, Mason Morpeth, Kyle Clayton, Kase Wilson, and Alex Lane each had a hit.

The Gainesville Bulldogs were in Summit Conference action Monday night against the Norwood Pirates. The Pirates were coming off a Final Four appearance last year and were hoping to continue the winning tradition. The Bulldogs were looking to win their first conference game of the year, but errors and the inability to get timely hitting doomed the Bulldogs once again. The Pirates jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, and that’s all they would need in the contest. The Bulldogs had a chance to tie the game and possibly take the lead in the top of the second inning with a leadoff base hit from Dallas DeWeese, but Kyle Clayton’s double took a bad roll and rolled dead under the fence in right-center. This forced DeWeese to stay at third base and Clayton to stay at second. The Bulldogs failed to score either and the threat was vanquished. The Pirates tacked on five more runs throughout the game on badly timed errors by the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs eventually fell 6-0 to the Pirates. Aaron Swanson and Mason Morpeth each added had a hit. The JV Bulldogs won 3-0.

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