Woodridge ousts Mooney in eight

The Cardinals took nine walks in an 11-8 district loss.

By PAUL TRGOVAC

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

STRUTHERS — Woodridge scored three runs in the top of the eighth inning and the Bulldogs held on to defeat Mooney 11-8 in a Division III district baseball semifinal game Thursday night at Cene Park.

Woodridge will meet East Palestine today at 5 p.m. at Field 1 at Cene Park.

In the top of the eighth inning, pinch-hitter Anthony Weston singled to start the frame. Allen James followed with his fourth hit of the contest, a single to put runners on first and second.

Following a sacrifice bunt by pinch-hitter Chris Capaldo, Mooney intentionally walked Nick Jones. Mike DeBord drove home the go ahead run with a sacrifice fly, then two insurance runs scored on a single by Dave Krusinski.

Following a leadoff single by Anthony Franceschelli in the bottom of the inning, Jordan Wilhite came on in relief to retire the next three batters for the save, improving the Bulldogs’ record to 25-2.

Woodridge confidence

“We have all the confidence in Jordan. We brought him in and told him to throw strikes and he did,” Woodridge coach Rick Hardy said. “We pinch-hit two freshman in the top of the eighth and one leads off with a single and the other bunts the guys over. We beat a great team, it was a well-earned victory.”

Mooney (19-6) struggled at the plate the entire game. The Cardinals managed just seven hits and only one for extra bases.

Mooney did take advantage of nine walks, with four coming around to score. But the Cardinals struck out 13 times and left 12 men on base. Mooney was retired in order just once in the eight innings.

Woodridge took advantage of an error in the second inning to score four unearned runs and they also scored two unearned runs in the fifth. James finished with two doubles as did Fred Guerra. Guerra added three RBIs.

Bases juiced

The Cardinals sent 10 men to the plate and scored four times in their half of the fourth but left the bases loaded.

“Their pitching was superb, and we kicked the ball around a little bit early. It was one of those games where you have to be perfect to win,” Mooney coach Al Franceschelli said. “That was a great team we played, we just fell a little short.”

Anthony Franceschelli had two hits for the Cardinals while Tony Brunetti and Bob Herberger both drove in a pair of runs. Drew Fitzpatrick went the first 4 1/3 innings, allowing eight runs (two earned) with three strikeouts.

Jones got the win as he went 4 2/3 innings in relief with eight strikeouts.