U10 Travel: Dirty Dogs beat Wethersfield in a wild one, 11-9

In their second straight 4-inning game, the Dirty Dogs put up a well-played "W" against a tough and feisty Wethersfield team 11-9. Beating out the heat, some wild plays and.....the clock?

Due to the heat, it was decided pre-game to end the 10 AM game at Noon regardless of where we were in the game or who was leading at the time. This setup some pretty amazing theatrics for the Dogs to come back and win it before the clock struck 12:00.

Bottom of the 4th. Dogs down 9-7. 11:45 AM.

In his new position in the batting order (hitting 7th), Matt Keller did not disappoint, doing what he does best and laying down a perfect bunt, booking to first for the hit and starting the dogs off in the bottom of the 4th. With coaches Druckenmiller, Keller, Massa and Altman watching the clock...Matt "K" started the comeback in grand fashion. After Keller made it to 3rd, Kyle Nichols grounded out to first. But with heads up base-running, Keller hustled home on the ground-out to make it 9-8.

11:51 AM.

Next up was Alex Haggerty. On a 0-2 fastball, Alex did what his coaches have been telling the Dogs to do all season...PROTECT THE PLATE when you're in the hole. And boy did he. Alex bombed an opposite field screamer to right field for an inside the park home run!!! Now it's 9-9. Next up, Owen Hyland. What does he do? Base hit. Inning still alive. After Owen made it all the way to 3rd, John Doar came up with a big hit scoring Hyland, making it 10-9 Dogs.

11:56 AM

Still only 1 out and John Doar now on 3rd, Colman Glagovich has a SUPER at-bat, knocking off a couple of foul balls and taking the count to 3-2. On the 3-2 pitch Colman knocks a hard grounder in the infield with the play made at first, but scoring John and making it 11-9 Dogs.

11:59:30 (according to Coach Altman)

Marcos Massa coming up, but after some coach/umpire deliberations...the game is called. Dirty Dogs 11 - Tough Wethersfield Team 9. In the nick of time, the Dogs put up 4 polished runs before time ran out.

Dirty Dogs pitchers were finding it hard to get strikes in this game. Lots of walks. Shamus Biggs (1.1, 1K, 8BB, 2H, 3R, 0ER) started the game walking the first three he faced. After settling down a bit, Shamus found a good rhythm and consistency and got out of the 1st giving up just the 3 runs. After a couple of walks to start the second, Shamus was relieved by Ryan Druckenmiller (2.0IP, 1K, 4BB, 1H, 4R, 1ER) who countered well (getting out 3 of the next 4 faced) and got the Dogs out of the inning without giving up a run. Ryan pitched very well in a 1-2-3 third inning. In the 4th, the walks returned. The first 6 batters got on for Wethersfield. 4 were walks. After Ryan put the first 4 on, Spencer Altman came in for relief. After giving up a couple walks himself, Spence found his zone striking out 2 of his last 4.

The Dogs were great in the field today! Miles McCarthy threw out two batters at third and Kyle Nichols had a superb catch in left saving at least two runs from coming in. And on the base paths, aggressive base coaching by Coaches Keller and Massa and smart base-running was the name of the game. Well-executed delayed steals, advancing on over-throws and live-ball situations kept the Dogs in it all day. At the plate, the bottom half of the order did ALL the heavy damage in this one. The 7-12 batters (Keller, Nichols, Haggerty, Hyland, Doar and Glagovich) accounted for a total of 4 hits, 3 walks, 2 RBI's and 8 runs scored. Just goes to show that everyone on the DD's contributes on any day and at any time. Great job guys!!!

The Dirty Dogs are now 6-1 on the summer season with Glastonbury coming up next at Ross Field. See you all there!

GD