 Anthony Dodd came on in relief and was simply clutch for the Patriots, striking out seven in five and two-thirds of work. Sandy Creek didn't let Our Lady of Mercy's hot start to the baseball season scare them off as the Patriots topped the Bobcats 10-7 in their meeting last week.
The two teams came into the matchup on opposite ends of the spectrum, Mercy off to a 6-1 start and Sandy Creek sitting at 0-6. The Patriots were hungry for a victory and it showed.
"I hope this gives us some confidence," said coach David Cooper. "We start region play in a week and we need to get some momentum going."
They've got a game of grit and toughness to build on. Mercy jumped out front early, but the Patriots never backed down.
"We weren't fielding the ball that well or pitching that well early on in the game, but we came on good at the end hitting the ball," said Cooper.
They would get a huge performance from Anthony Dodd. Dodd came in as a relief pitcher and tossed five and two-thirds innings, allowing two runs and striking out seven. More importantly, Dodd came into the game with just one out and the bases loaded. He struck out back to back batters to escape the jam and keep it a two run deficit.
The Patriots broke the game open in the bottom of the fifth inning, capitalizing on four Mercy errors. Sandy Creek came into the frame trailing 6-4 and left it with a an 8-6 lead. Chuck Terron and Jared Jackson started the rally off with back to back doubles to start the inning, Jackson's scoring Terron. An infield single by Alston Rice would score Jackson and knot up the game at 6-6. Trevin Bolden's single gave the Patriots the lead and a sacrifice by Jacob Renie pushed the score to 8-6. A heads up cutoff and by Mercy's Matt Frank would help throw out another Patriot at the plate to stop the bleeding.
Mercy would get one run back in the top of the sixth on a Christian Griffith infield single, but Sandy Creek piled on in the bottom half. A Cole Jackson sacrifice and another Alston Rice RBI made it a 10-7 game. That would be all the Patriots needed.
The game wasn't without high points for the Bobcats. Mercy took a 2-0 first inning lead on two infield knocks by Chris Wesley and Matt Frank. After falling behind in the bottom half of the inning, they fired it up again in the top of the second. Four walks and two RBI infield singles, one from Kevin Walker and one from Christian Griffith, gave the Bobcats a 5-3 lead and chased Creek's starting pitcher. In the top of the fourth, Griffith would plate another run with a sacrifice.
Christian Griffith led Mercy at the plate, going two for two with three RBI. Chris Wesley picked up a pair of RBI for the Bobcats.
Cole Jackson, Alson Rice, and Trevin Bolden each drove in two runs for Sandy Creek. Anthony Dodd picked up the win. |
