Reading Bulldogs

By JON HINES   Daily Times Chronicle

READING – Mooney Dental has been looking for another arm to complement Jonathan Bishop in its rotation and Sunday afternoon, right-hander Max McKenna staked his claim to being that person.

With a complete game victory, allowing just four hits and an unearned run, McKenna helped the Tanners snap a three-game losing streak with a 3-1 win over Reading at Morton Field.

Mooney Dental also got the deciding two runs in the top of the seventh inning, finally getting to Bulldogs’ starter Scott Tully, who also threw a complete game. The Tanners went to 2-4-1 for the season with McKenna earning his first win.

“It was very solid. He’s got a rubber arm just like Bishop; he can just pitch all day,” said Mooney manager Bob DeNapoli of McKenna, an Amherst graduate. “He said he’s feeling great so that’s even better.”

Even though Mooney did commit three errors, they all came in the first inning, after which the Tanners played six innings of clean ball, including diving catches by center fielder Ryson Porter and first baseman Kevin McKenzie. Shortstop Carlton Lentini also ended up retiring seven Reading batters.

“The last few games they’ve been booting it and the confidence goes down; no one wants the ball hit to them,” said DeNapoli. “(Sunday) everybody made some great plays out there; it’s totally changing around for them.”

In the bottom of the first inning, Bulldogs’ leadoff hitter Bill Cataldo reached on one of those errors and stole second. He went to third on a passed ball and then scored on another error.

From that point on, however, Reading (3-4-1) only had two hitters reach second base.

“Offensively, that was our worst outing of the year. No real rhythm through the lineup and even the run we got was a gift,” said Reading manager Matt Morrison.

Tully cruised through the first two innings but the Tanners pushed across a run in the top of the third inning with McKenzie drawing a leadoff walk, reaching second on a walk to left fielder Alex Ruocco, reaching third on a Reading error and then scoring on an RBI single by third baseman Bill Manley.

It appeared as though the game was headed for extra inning but Mooney came through in the top of the seventh with a two-out rally for two runs.

“Finally, timely hitting. It was great to see the guys come through,” said DeNapoli.

Pinch hitter Brett Manley drew a walk and Lentini singled to left. Bill Manley also walked and pinch hitter Scoop Ruxin’s infield hit scored Brett Manley. Second baseman John McDonald (2-for-4) followed that with a single to left field, delivering Lentini with a key insurance run.

“Great to see his bat come around because he hadn’t played much in the spring (and) he looked good with a couple nice hits,” said DeNapoli of McDonald.

It was the first start of the year for Tully, who had not pitched since the end of the high school season.

“For the rookie’s first start, he did a good job (and) kept us in the game but we’re not going to win any games swinging the bats like we did,” said Morrison. “We’ve just got to go back to the drawing board, keep working hard and see what happens.

“We gave (Tully) time off because he pitched a lot in high school. You could see he had a little bit of rust in terms of his breaking ball and off-speed pitch, but his fastball’s there. He’ll be a once-a-week guy and he’s going to find that rhythm later on in the year; he’s going to be fine.”

The left-hander appears to be a natural fit for the Bulldogs’ rotation this summer, as he builds towards his anticipated senior season with the Reading Rockets.

“We needed him to rest a little bit to get his arm fresh, but he fits right in,” said Morrison. “He’s not overmatched by any means, so we’re looking forward to it.”

The Bulldogs play again on Tuesday when they host Arlington at 6 p.m. while Mooney Dental takes the field again on Wednesday night when it travels to Maplewood Field and takes on Andre at 7:45 p.m.

MOONEY (3) – Ruocco 1-0, Lentini 3-1, Bi. Manley 3-1, DeNapoli 2-0, McDonald 4-2, Collins 2-0, McKenzie 2-1, Porter 2-0, Burnham 3-0, Ruxin 1-1, O’Loughlin 2-1, McKenna 0-0, Braga 1-0, Br. Manley 0-0. Totals 26-7.

READING (1) – Cataldo 2-0, Castoldi 3-0, Carmain 2-0, Taylor 2-0, Talis 3-2, Fischer 3-0, Buitkus 2-0, Gagnon 3-1, Halsey 3-1, Tully 0-0, Manzi 1-0. Totals 24-4.

READING              100 000 0  -  1

Doubles:  Halsey

WP – McKenna (1-0);  LP – Tully (0-1).