Bulldogs Sweep Medford Americans, Stay in Playoff Hunt

Medford (3) –M. Burgoyne 4-1, Polanco 3-1, Gilchrist 4-0, Sheehan 2-1,  McConnville 4-0, Kalfopoulos 3-1, Napier 2-1, Ohanesian 1-0, Albano 2-0, Totals 25-5 

Reading (5) – B. Flutie  3-0, Cataldo 3-1, Manzi 4-2, Talis 2-1, Bishop 2-2,  Hartwell 2-0, Gagnon 2-1, Strukel 3-0, Dellorfon 3-1, Totals 24-8 

Doubles – Kalfopoulos

Home Runs-  M. Burgoyne 

WP-   Cotoni  (4-1)  LP-    Albano (0-6)

Medford       1000020     3   5  1
Reading       101021x     5   8  0 

Medford (1)–M. Burgoyne 3-0, Polanco 4-0, Gilchrist 3-2, Kalfopoulos 4-0,  McConnville 3-2, Napier 2-1, Ohanesian 2-0, Gunn 3-2, Walsh 2-0, Sheehan 1-0, Totals 27-7 

Reading (11) – B. Flutie  3-1, Halsey 0-0, Kelly 1-1, Cataldo 4-3, Manzi 5-2, Talis 3-2,  Buitkus 3-1,  Dewing 3-1,Hartwell 4-2, D. Flutie 4-2, O’Leary 2-1, Perez 2-0, Totals 34-16 

Doubles – Cataldo, Talis, Kelley, Hartwell

Triples- Buitkus 

WP-  O’Shea (2-2)  LP-  Sheehan (0-1)

Medford       0000010     1    7   1
Reading       212132x    11  16   0

Wrap:

The Bulldogs pulled off their second straight doubleheader sweep on Sunday afternoon at Morton Field, this time over the Medford Americans by scores of 5-3 and 11-1.

With the two wins the Bulldogs (12-11-1) currently stand in fifth place in the Intercity League standings and in playoff position with eight games remaining.

Reading put together two of their better all around efforts, something the Coach has been waiting for all season.

“This is the first time in a while that we put together strong pitching, errorless defense and timely hitting in the same game.” said Matt Morrison. “it made for a much more relaxing afternoon then we have been used to lately”.

In the opener, the game started off shaky for Reading when Mike Burgoyne stroked the second pitch of the game over the left field fence to give Medford a 1-0 lead.

From there Derek Cotoni, the Bulldog lefty, dominated the Americans—not allowing another hit until the sixth inning while striking out nine. 

The Bulldogs, meanwhile, performed some clutch hitting—scoring their first four runs all with two outs. The tandem of Trevor Manzi and Andrew Bishop accounted for the first two, with Bishop driving in Manzi both times from second base with hard singles.

“Bishop is tearing the cover off of the ball this year, hitting over .500.” Coach Morrison said. “Unfortunately for us, he is only available on Sundays because of his job in the city during the week”.

The Americans made it interesting in the sixth when 27-year league veteran Mike Kalfopoulos hit a double after two walks by Cotoni and the lead was reduced to 4-3. However, Dan Eisenberg got the final out of the inning with the bases loaded.

The Bulldogs tacked on an insurance run in the sixth on a Bill Cataldo single. Then, in the seventh, Eisenberg set down Medford, but not before the tying runs reached base.

“Dan has two wins and a save in relief just this week alone, and he is a spot starter as well. He has clearly been one of our most valuable pitchers this year” Morrison said.

Game two had little drama as the Bulldogs scored in every inning and knocked out 16 hits with contributions from multiple players.

Cataldo had a 3 RBI double, and Darren Hartwell and Nick Kelley each had two RBI and a double.  Five players had multiple hit games; Cataldo, Hartwell, Manzi, Zac Talis and Doug Flutie.

On the mound, Ben O’Shea had a solid start with five scoreless innings and 8 strikeouts.

“That was Ben’s best start since opening day,” said Morrison. “His curve was working and he had better command out there. We are going to need him to be sharp for the playoff stretch”.

The doubleheader sweep gave the Bulldogs a 3-2 record in a critical and hot week where they had a good chance to go 5-0.

“We don’t look back on what could have been, I just know where we are at now and what we need to do going forward. We are still in a strong position to succeed,” Morrison said.

“I am very encouraged by how are guys have battled this week it was a war of attrition, at times, with the weather. They showed character and most importantly they are playing well. We used our whole roster this past 10 days and every one of them has contributed, that bodes well for us.”