Bulldogs break loose in third inning

By Allen Etzler
Published in Sports on April 16, 2015 1:48 PM

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PRINCETON -- Bruce Proctor is used to playing small ball.

So if you ask him how it makes him feel when his team puts up eight runs in an inning, the 15-year Princeton head baseball coach perks up.

"Shoot, I think we got a pretty good shot if that happens," Proctor said.

That's exactly what happened Wednesday as the Bulldogs rode an eight-run third inning to a 10-6 victory over Carolina 1-A Conference archrival Rosewood.

Rosewood lefty Jordan Gurley struggled to find the zone from the start on a chilly, rainy afternoon, and walked eight batters in 22/3 innings. Three errors in the third inning compounded the walks and the Bulldogs needed just two hits to push across their eight runs.

The wet conditions could have caused the ball to slip out of defenders' hands on throws, but Rosewood coach Jason King would not let that be an excuse.

"I don't think Princeton threw too many balls away," King said. "The fact is we all have to use the same ball... I asked Jordan how he was feeling and he said he was good, but some days you just don't have it. He battled.

"We kept calling pitches and he kept throwing them."

Jared Pearce led the Bulldogs' offensive attack with two hits, including a double and three RBI. He and Tyler Ricks contributed back-to-back doubles in the third inning as it looked like the Bulldogs were going to roll to a mercy-rule win.

Instead, Rosewood reliever Brad Peacock blanked Princeton's offense the rest of the way and allowed only two runners to reach base -- both by walks.

And slowly, the Eagles started to chip away.

They scored three runs in the fifth inning after Boone Moody drove in a run on a suicide squeeze with the bases loaded.

"We were just being as aggressive as possible, just trying to get something going," King said.

Then in the seventh, the Eagles scored two more runs, but the comeback attempt fell short.

"They fought and we knew they were going to," Proctor said. "But I would like to see us finish them off when we had the chance. It's a rivalry game, you'd expect the kids to want that, too... After the third inning I don't think we hit but one fastball.

"Pretty soon teams are going to figure that out and start feeding them to us."

Moody finished with three RBI for the Eagles on two hits.

Tanner Flowers lasted six innings for the Bulldogs, giving up four runs. But the biggest thing Flowers did was throw the ball across the plate.

"Tanner did a great job keeping it in the strike zone today," Proctor did. "You make everything easier when you throw strikes, and that's all we can ask him to do."