Bulldogs Split Double-Header Over The Weekend

The Reading Bulldogs hosted the Arlington Trojans on Father's Day for a double-header, going 1-1 on the day.

Reading dropped the first game, 0-7, but managed to win the second game, 7-0, thanks to a solid pitching performance by Derek Cotoni who registered a two-hit shut out. 

The Bulldogs (5-1) were playing their first game in over a week after being rained out the previous Sunday, and it showed when they first took the field. 

"We didn't play well the first game, you could tell we've had over a week off from our rain-outs and we were rusty getting here," said Reading assistant coach Andy Gagnon.

"It was a little disappointing that we're not going to go undefeated, we definitely could have won the game if we didn't make four or five errors. [Ben O'Shea] pitched pretty well, but the defense wasn't behind him and we didn't swing the bat well."

The Bulldogs had better luck in game number two of the day, going on a scoring spree in the bottom of the fourth inning when they scored five runs. Alex Fischer, Steve Buitkus, and Doug Dellorfon all locked in RBIs in the inning, giving Reading their first advantage of the two-game series. 

They were able to tack on two more insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth, and the Trojans were unable to respond. The Bulldogs went on to secure the win, 7-0.

"The second game was a good game, we broke it open in the fourth, so I think just getting some at bats and getting back on the field made the difference," said Gagnon.

The Bulldogs were scheduled to take on the Wakefield Merchants on Wednesday, but the game was once again rained-out.

Next up, weather permitting, Reading will take on the Mooney Dental Tanners on Thursday at Ferullo Field at 6:00 p.m. 

"We fared well against both [Wakefield and Woburn] last year, and we're a much better team this year than last year," said Gagnon. "We haven't seen them yet so we don't know what they have, but I'd say we're pretty confident in the team that we have."