Reading Bulldogs

In Somerville on Tuesday night the Bulldog’s bats came alive in a big way. Tallying up 13 hits, 7 of which were extra base hits, Reading beat the Somerville Royals by a score of 14-2.

The scoring started early and often for Reading. In the first inning, Mike DeDonato came up with one guy on and crushed a two-run homerun to left field, for his first homerun of the year. After scoring two in the first, the Bulldog’s started the second inning with 4 straight hits. Johnny Hayes led off with a single and the next batter, Rossario Missiti, tripled allowing Hayes to score all the way from first base. Chris Seidl and Mike Taylor then each followed up with back to back RBI doubles extending the lead to 5-0 through only two innings of play.

Somerville did manage to score one run off 3 hits in the third, but the Bulldogs answered back in a big way scoring 5 runs and batting around in the fourth inning. Following a leadoff walk and hit by pitch, Darren Hartwell hit an infield single which also allowed a run to score on an errant throw after the play was over. After back to back walks for Chris Bosco and Macyn Clifford, one of which was with the bases loaded to bring in a run, DeDonato again came up big with a bases clearing 3 RBI double. Hayes went on to record a double later in the frame, but no more runs were scored as Reading headed into the bottom half of the 4th inning up 10-1.

The Royals tacked on one more run off 3 hits to make it 10-2, but the Bulldogs followed up with three of their own. Hartwell lead off with a single followed by walks from both Bosco and Clifford, bringing DeDonato up for another time with the bases loaded. He did not disappoint as he roped an opposite field 2 RBI double, recording his 7th RBI of the game. The next batter was Steve Busby who knocked in one more run on a fielder’s choice. After 5 innings, Reading led by a score of 13-2 but would add one more off an RBI single by Chris Seidl in the 7th. The game finished with a final score of 14-2.

On the mound for the Bulldogs, starter Jack Theriault had a strong outing going 5 innings allowing just 2 runs on 7 hits with 3 strikeouts. Alex Mandrus came into relief for a scoreless 6th inning and Max Mardeny finished the game in the 7th after facing only three batters.

Reading saw key contributions from the entire lineup. Bosco and Clifford combined to reach base 5 times via the walk and each scored two times. Hartwell had 3 singles with two stolen bags and 3 runs scored. Hayes stayed hot with a 2 hit performance as a middle of the order guy. Missiti had a triple with 2 walks and an RBI. Busby came away with only one hit and an RBI, but made hard contact every time up. Seidl finished the night with 2 hits and 2 RBI’s. Out of the nine-hole Mike Taylor recorded an RBI double along with a hit by pitch he later scored on.

Arguably one of the hottest hitters in the league right now, Mike DeDonato, ended his monstrous night at the plate with 2 doubles, a homerun, a walk, and 7 RBI’s. DeDonato has been on fire lately and currently leads the Intercity Baseball League with an impressive .522 average.

The Reading Bulldogs have a 3-day break before meeting up with the Andre Chiefs in Lexington Saturday morning at 11:00am.

All photos can be found at: http://shartwell.zenfolio.com/bulldogs17