Reading Bulldogs

By Jeff Pierce  Daily Times Chronicle 

Reading (12) – Cataldo 5-4, Conti 4-3. Manzi 4-2, Talis 5-1, Hartwell 4-1, Castoldi 4-1, Buitkus 4-1, Gagnon 2-1, Halsey 2-2, Zajac 4-2  Totals 38-18 

Wakefield (3) –Townsend 3-1, Searles 4-1, M. Sorrentino 3-0, Ramsey 4-0, Papa 2-1, Orlowitz 2-0, Breen 2-0, Napoli 3-1,  Losanno 2-1, Totals 25-5 

Doubles- Townsend, Losanno, Gagnon, Napoli, Buitkus, Manzi 

Reading      001 053  3   12

Wakefield   120 000  0    3 

WP- O’Neil   LP- Ferlan 

Wrap: Seemingly in one fell swoop the Bulldogs let out their season long frustration of squandering scoring opportunities by pasting the Wakefield Merchants pitching with an eighteen hit and twelve run offensive display. With the victory at Walsh Field on Monday evening the Bulldogs advance to the Intercity League semi-finals for the second straight year in just their third year as a franchise. “After playing thirty-five games in just two months it is nice to see that the efforts and commitment that the players and coaches have made is rewarded,” said Coach Morrison, “finishing strong has been the Bulldogs way over the past three years and here we go again”. The game started out ominously for the Bulldogs as the hard hitting Merchants put together three runs on four hits and two walks against starter Brian O’Neil through two innings. Down 3-1 entering the fifth inning the Bulldogs were down to their last nine outs against Wakefield’s starter Christian Ferlan. “We may be the least vocal bench in the League as far as rah-rah banter goes, but that is more of a personality thing versus guys not caring about winning. Our guys were not about to throw  the towel in on the season when our backs were against the wall and they responded with a fury”, said Morrison. It was Trevor Manzi’s two-out two-run double that provided the Bulldogs with the first lead of the game at 4-3 in the pivotal fifth inning. Bill Cataldo was also in the middle of the five run fifth inning rally that gave the Bulldogs a 6-3 lead. Cataldo had four hits and three runs batted-in for the game and for the series he had ten hits in thirteen at-bats.  Cataldo’s Salem State teammate Nick Conti had a big night as well with three hits and three runs batted-in while batting from the unfamiliar left side of the plate when a twinge in his right shoulder turned him around from his usual righty stance. The floodgates opened when the Bulldogs scored three more runs in both the sixth and seventh innings as every Bulldog had a hit on the evening including seven players with runs batted-in and five players with multiple hit games. O’Neil got stronger after the first two innings and allowed only one hit over his final four innings in recording the victory. With the teams playing each other for the fifth time over a two week period and with the score of the game out of hand tempers flared in the seventh inning when Manzi was plunked in the head at the plate. Both benches got heated and players left their dugouts briefly but the umpires did a good job in restoring order and the game ended without further incident. The Bulldogs now have a return date with the defending five-time League champion the Lexington Blue Sox. Last year the Bulldogs were four outs away from ending the Blue Sox reign before going down in a memorable five game series. The first two games will be played at Lexington HS at 8PM this Wednesday and Thursday. On Saturday and Sunday (if needed) the series comes to Morton Field with the times yet to be announced. Game Five (if needed) would be played at Lexington HS at 8PM next Monday.