By Rob Potter
JEFFERSONVILLE — May 4, 2010 — A four-run outburst in the bottom of the second inning helped the Sullivan West Bulldogs record a 7-3 victory over the visiting John S. Burke Catholic High School Eagles on Thursday afternoon in an Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division IV baseball game at the Lions’ Field in Jeffersonville.
With the score knotted at 1-1 entering the bottom of the second, SW (8-3, 3-2 Div. IV) took the lead for good by scoring four runs in the frame. Cruz Burgos led off with a single to center field. After two outs were recorded, Ryan Alsdorf walked to put runners on the corners. Mark Tesseyman then singled to left field to bring Burgos in to score.
Moments later, Alsdorf scored on a passed ball to give the Bulldogs a 3-1 lead.
Tesseyman crossed the plate when Burke catcher Andrew Nutt threw the ball to second base in an attempt to throw out Jeremy DeGori, who successfully stole the base.
DeGori scored on a single by Austin Sauer to give SW a 5-1 advantage.
The Bulldogs added a run in the bottom of the fifth. With the bases loaded, Austin Sauer singled to left field to score Alsdorf.
Burke (5-5, 2-3 Div. IV) cut its deficit to 6-2 in the top of the fifth. With two teammates on base, Dan Shannon reached base on an error. Matt Conroy, who had walked earlier in the inning, scored from third base on the miscue.
However, SW got that run back in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs and the bases loaded, Mike Durkin scored on a passed ball to make it a 7-2 game.
The Eagles scored the final run of the afternoon in the top of the seventh. Paul Rapoli belted a double to deep left-center field to bring Rich Douglas in to score.
Sauer, Burgos and Tesseyman led the Bulldogs’ offensive attack. Sauer had three hits and two RBIs, Tesseyman had two hits and two RBIs and Burgos had two hits.
Sauer was also the winning pitcher for the Bulldogs. In 6 and 1/3 innings, he allowed three hits and recorded 10 strikeouts.
“They were able to get hits with runners on base and we didn’t,” Burke Coach Mike Paravati said. “When you only score three runs in a high school baseball game, you aren’t going to win too many games.”
SW Coach Kurt Scheibe Jr. noted that this is the second consecutive season the Bulldogs have won a series from Burke. Last spring, the Bulldogs prevailed in two of the three games they played against the Eagles.
With Thursday’s win and an 8-3 victory last Tuesday in Goshen, SW guaranteed it will win this year’s three-game Div. IV series versus Burke. The teams are set to play the third game of the series later this month.
“We had a couple of big two-out hits,” Scheibe replied when asked about his team’s Thursday afternoon victory. “In our games at O’Neill and Burke, our guys were swinging for the fences. They were dropping their swing down and trying to hit home runs. Today, they did a nice job of hitting the ball. They took level swings and were able to drive the ball.”
Scheibe noted that the only negative aspect of Thursday’s game was that the Bulldogs “had a couple of mental errors.”