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4/20/08 West Orange-

The Bulldogs traveled to the stomping grounds of the 2007 Mel Ott Champion Essex Bulls, to face their first real test within the league. Following a night of partying and celebrating the Bret Santucci’s 28^th, the dogs were a bit tired with the early start time for game 1. Santucci himself showed up without his contacts, but did remember his new arm sleeve, making him a cross between JD Drew and Jacoby Ellsbury… and yes I just referenced boston twice on the first baseman.

In game one, the Bulls sent ace Tim Duggan to the mound to face Eddie Rosado. The matchup looked solid on paper. O’Conner Field, for those who don’t know, sits on top of a mountain and tends to get quite foggy. On this morning, it was so foggy out that umpires declared the official start time moved to 10am.

When things finally got under way, we still had some outfield fog issues, but both sides were effected. The Bulldogs started off hot, with Chuck Harvath leading the game off with a line drive to center. Bret and Dave Markow would both move Chuck over, and Jesse Boles would deliver the first run of the game with an RBI single to center, scoring Chuck from third. Eddie Rosado would follow with a fly ball to left, which got lost in the fog, and dropped between the centerfielder and leftfielder, scoring Jesse all the way from first. In the 2^nd inning, the Bulldogs kept the hits coming with 3 straight singles from James O’Hanlon, Ayad Shuaib and Brad Hoover. Chuck would walk and load the bases for Santucci, who would deliver once again with a 2RBI double into the right-center gap. The dogs had a 4-1 lead. Tim Duggan would settle down, and in the next 3 frames allow only 1 hit, while striking out 5 batters.

The story of the day was the Bulldogs defense and baserunning. A costly misturned double play, which would have ended the 4^th inning, lead to 3 Bulls runs scoring. The Bulldogs defense, apparently still dazed and hungover from the night before, allowed nearly 10 errors in the game, which allowed the Bulls to contend. Baserunning blunders lead to 4 outs, in critical times. Had those mistakes not happened, the team probably would have scored an extra 3 runs, Heading into the 6^th inning, the Bulls had a 6-4 lead. Jesse Boles lead off with a single, followed by Mike Mazzolla reaching on an E4. With two on, Tim Ritchie drilled the 9^th pitch of his at bat over the right field fence for a 3 run jack, putting the Bulldogs ahead 7-6. Rosado would shut down the Bulls in the bottom of the 6^th, and the bulldogs clung to a 7-6 lead heading into the 7^th. In the top of the inning, the Bulldogs managed to plate one run to widen their lead to 8-6.

Staying with Rosado in the 7^th, the Bulldogs had faith the tough righty could finish the game out. However the defense seemed to let him down when he needed them most. An infield single, a bloop single over Mazzolla’s head, a misplayed ground ball, a walk, a single and the game was tied. The Dogs finally turned to OHanlon to try and get out of a no outs, bases loaded jam with the game knotted at 8 a piece. He got the ground ball with the infield in… right to Mazzollas glove, but the transfer from glove to throwing hand didn’t go well… and the game was over.

The game was handed to the Bulls on a silver platter. The story of the game, was the shotty Bulldogs defense and baserunning. The defense itself committed 10 errors. On the bases, the bulldogs were picked off twice and got greedy on the bases leading to another 2 outs. All of these blunders happening in the worst possible moments. The offense hit the Bulls ace, with 14 hits and 8 runs. He struck out 9 in 7 frames, more than the bulldogs had struck out in the first two games combined. It was a loss taken with lessons learned. The team knows it can hit with the best, can hit off the best. The defense just needs to step up, and we need to have our heads there on the bass. Eddie Rosado finished his pitching performance with 11 k’s, allowing 10 hits and 3 earned runs. Great day for the righty on the hill, against a premiere ballclub.

Game two was a bit of a different story. Questions were mounting on how the bulldogs would come back in game 2, flat footed or hungry? The answer was the latter. Bulldogs sent Milton Rodriguez to work on the hill for game 2, and got through the first inning after allowing 1 run across the board. The bulldogs came out hitting though. After the Bulls retired both Harvath and Santucci to start the bottom of the 1^st, they walked Markow, game up an RBI double to Jesse Boles, and then Eddie Rosado belted his 2^nd home run of the spring over the left field fence to give the Dogs a 2-1 lead. In the second, the dogs were back to business at the dish. Tim Ritchie walked to start the inning, followed by a single by OHanlon and a walk to Brad Hoover. Chuck would reach on an erro, scoring a run and keeping the bases loaded for hot hitting Bret Santucci. Santucci decided to give himself a birthday gift, and belted the first pitch over the right field fence for his second grand slam of the spring, and third homerun in as many weeks. The kid is just on fire, now leading the league with 16 rbi through 4 games.  The scoring attack did not rest in the 3^rd, with the dogs scoring 2 runs on 3 consecutive hits from OHanlon, Shuaib and Hoover. At this point, Milton was all business on the mound. Through 4 frames he allowed 6 runs, only 2 earned, and struck out 3. The Bulldogs had a 10-6 lead by the bottom of the 4^th… when the bats decided to erupt. Dave Markow singled to start the inning, followed by another Jesse Boles single and a Rosado intentional pass. Mazzolla would hit into a fielders choice, plating Markow. OHanlon would double into the gap, scoring both Boles and Rosado. Shuaib would get HBP, and Hoover would follow with a big 2RBI double down the right field line. Chuck would then hit a big 2 RBI double himself, extending the Bulldogs lead by 10 heading into the 5^th inning.

The dogs pulled Rodriguez in favor of Tim Franklin to toss a quick inning. Franklin mowed down the first two batters with 7 pitches, and then got the final batter to pop out ending the game. The Bulldogs 3^rd win of the season, all by mercy rulings.

The game proved the Bulldogs belong in the Mel Ott, able to contend with the best. The ability to come back from a tough loss in game one, shows their determination and desire to be successful within the league. It was a great showing by the ballclub, and the team left the field with a sense of accomplishment. Even though they handed the first game to the Bulls, the Bulldogs knew they lost the game themselves, and weren’t necessarily beaten by a better team. With their defense in line… they win both. Unfortunately they wasted a great performance by Rosado… something they vow to never do again.