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Bulldogs handle Irish at rainy Cene
White’s 3 hits, 3 RBIs
lead hot Poland bats
By Steve WILAJ
STRUTHERS
It wasn’t the cleanest game between two of the area’s top teams.
Much like the rainy weather conditions, Poland downed Ursuline, 18-8, on Thursday at Cene Park in a sloppy contest for both teams. The Bulldogs — led by Eric White’s three hits, three RBIs and 32/3 innings on the mound — improved to 12-2, while the Fighting Irish committed six errors and dropped to 9-5.
“We hit the ball, which was good,” Poland coach Rich Murray said. “We struggled pitching a little bit there in the beginning, but we hit the ball and that was a positive for us tonight.”
Poland scored four runs in the top of the first, all with two outs. Dan Klase keyed the big inning with a two-run triple.
Ursuline then answered back with four runs to tie the game, as Drew Potesta notched an RBI single and Bulldogs starter Don Drummond walked-in two runs before exiting after just one third of an inning.
But Poland regained the lead for good in the top of the second when Drummond doubled and came around to score on White’s single. The Bulldogs then added five more in the third to take a commanding 11-4 advantage.
Matt Baker hit an RBI single, Ursuline’s Blaze Vath balked in a run, White notched an RBI single and two runs scored on a wild pitch — Anthony Calcagni hustling home from second base to plate the latter.
“Everybody was hitting today,” White said. “It’s nice when that happens because then you don’t have to just rely on one guy. It was just about having confidence up there.”
Ursuline — which was paced by Josh Schotz’s two hits — scored two runs in the third, one in the fourth and another in the fifth in an attempt to battle back. But Poland added four runs in the sixth inning, keyed by White’s RBI double and a two-run double by Nick Petrolla, who finished with two hits.
“We know what kind of program Poland has and what kind of team they are and we certainly didn’t do anything to scare them tonight,” Ursuline coach Matt Weymer said. “We played some really bad baseball — a lot of errors, a lot of mental mistakes, struck out too much — you just can’t do that and win a game.”
White earned the victory for Poland after replacing Drummond. The lefty allowed three runs (all unearned), struck out five, walked five and surrendered three hits. Pad O’Shaughnessy worked three scoreless innings as well, striking out six.
“I was confident in my pitches,” White said. “I was just trying to throw strikes because I knew I had my defense behind me. The curveball was working well — had a sharp break.”
Ursuline starter Gianni Quattro went just two innings and surrendered five runs on five hits. Vath, in relief, allowed six runs on five hits and four walks in three innings.
Poland next plays at West Branch on Friday. Meanwhile, next for the Fighting Irish is the Bob Cene Catholic Tournament beginning on Saturday.
“What we did tonight was not a good representation of where we should be at at this point,” Weymer said. “I have to take some responsibility for that and the kids have to take some responsibility for that and we have to get better.”