by Vinny Messana
Before the game, Pat McCabe told his team this was going to be a ‘statement game’ against Hills West–a perennial playoff team coming off a 15-win season.
“We’re shocking the county this year,” the senior said after leading his team to a 10-6 victory. “I don’t want to look like one of those teams who just says it–I want to be a team that acts it. So beating a team like Hills West–that’s a big-time win,” he added.
He backed up the talking by recording his second victory of the young season, firing six innings and allowing five ER while striking out six batters. Four of the five runs were scored in the fifth inning after the Bulldogs had taken a commanding lead.
The Colts got out to an early 2-0 lead thanks to a lead off triple by Ryan Barone and an RBI ground out by the next batter Errol Parker. After a strikeout and an error by the third baseman, the Colts increased the lead to 2-0 on an RBI single by Matt DiBella.
The Bulldogs’ offense went to work in the third inning against Evan Alcazar.
They put up a three-spot, beginning with Steven Burke‘s RBI single to left field to score Zach Kolano. Nick Balfe‘s two-run double increased the lead to 3-2 in the third.
At that point, McCabe had settled in nicely. He allowed only one single between the 10 batters he faced during the 2nd through fourth innings.
The fifth inning was eventful, to say the least.
The Bulldogs scored six runs on three hits, one walk and four errors to break the game open at 9-2.It appeared to be all but over, until the Colts made it interesting.
After McCabe retired the first two batters on two pitches in the fifth inning, he allowed six consecutive hits to allow the Colts to creep back in the game at 9-6 before striking out the final batter.
He was lifted after the sixth in favor of Pat Solomita, who worked around a two-out single to set down the final hitter and secure the 10-6 victory.
The Bulldogs improved to 3-1 while the Colts drop to 2-2.
“Every game, every inning is a chance for us to build our confidence,” said Head Coach Steve Corrado. “This is a big step–this is a team we hadn’t had much success against the past couple years. Everyday we try to teach them, and we’re still learning how to win.”
