Creswell, Sports Zone

One bad inning’ stands between Bulldogs and victory

A 12-6 loss to host Harrisburg on April 16 and a 14-6 loss to visiting Santiam Christian on April 18 left the Creswell Bulldogs 0-4 after the second week of baseball league play.
At Harrisburg, the Bulldogs scored four in the top of the first inning against the then 12th-ranked Eagles; but that was overshadowed by “a couple of mental errors and some pitching letdowns in the first inning” said Head Coach Tyler Main, that allowed Harrisburg to score all of its runs.
“Take out that first inning, and we win that ballgame,” Main said.
Dallton Dewey pitched the first two-thirds of an inning for Creswell, striking out one, walking three and hitting four.
Gio Mediati pitched five and two-thirds innings, with four strikeouts and two walks.
“He came in on fire and pitched really well for us, pitching five and two-thirds innings with only 71 pitches, and our defense settled down and kept them scoreless,” Main said.
From the plate, Dawson Sharkey went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run. Dean Howard went 1-for-3 with two RBIs and a run and Dewey went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run.
The unfortunate pattern of being beaten by one bad inning repeated itself against fourth-ranked Santiam Christian.
“We played really well for six innings, but we had one bad inning where we gave up six runs in the sixth,” Main said. “They came out in that sixth inning and showed why they’re ranked that high and hit the ball all over. Other than that one inning, again, we are hanging with the best that 3A has to offer.”
Howard pitched five innings, striking out 10 and walking two. “Dean pitched really well for us,” Main said.
Sharkey pitched the final two innings, striking out one, walking four and hitting two.
Jarek Hodge went 1-for-3 at the plate, with two RBIs and two stolen bases; Nick Kubishta went 2-for-3 with two RBIs; Levi Bones went 2-for-4 and scored twice; and Dewey was 1-for-3 with two stolen bases.
This week, the Bulldogs seek to break the trend of that “one bad inning” against two more 3A powerhouses as they host second-ranked La Pine and travel to third-ranked Pleasant Hill.
“This week we didn’t win, but we have the best league in the state. We have to bring it every single game and put it all together, and we can hang with any team out there,” Main said. “We have been ‘on’ every game and just have had one bad inning that has hurt us; we cut down on those big innings and our record is flipped the other way. I believe our team can still have a great season and make our goal of making it to state.”

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