Reading Bulldogs

By Jeff Pierce   Daily Times Chronicle 

 Reading (10) – Cataldo 3-1, Castoldi 4-1, Pedrotti 1-0, Manzi 4-1, Hartwell 3-2, Gagnon 2-0, Buitkus 3-1, Flutie 3-1, Halsey 2-0, Hayward 4-0, Totals 26-7 

Medford (1)-  Burgoyne 3-2, Azzarello 1-0, Salvati 3-3, Davis 3-0, Sheehan 2-1, DelPonte 3-1, Barber 3-0, McConnville 2-0, Napier 1-0, Pasho 2-0, Ohanesian 1-1, Barreira 1-0, Richard 1-0, Totals 26-8 

Reading   420 301 0   10

Medford   001 000 0    1 

Doubles: Hartwell

Home Runs: Manzi 

WP- Kelley  LP-   Moran   

Wrap: For the third straight season the Bulldogs waited to the final weekend to clinch a playoff spot but did so in an impressive fashion over the past week. After defeating Medford 10-1 on Saturday at Playstead Park, the Bulldogs finished off a 2-0-1 stretch versus playoff quality opponents, and sealed their spot with the Intercity League final six teams. The Bulldogs have had a history of playing close games usually coming down to the final out. However, on this day the only sweat was not from the pressure of the game but from the hot 90 degree temperatures on a cloudless afternoon. The Bulldogs made an early statement with a four run first inning keyed by the red-hot Darren Hartwell’s two-run double. In the second inning Reading went up 6-0 when one of the league’s top hitters Trevor Manzi hit a two run home run. Meanwhile Nick Kelley continued his recent run of strong pitching which lead to his fifth win of the season. Kelley allowed eight hits but they were scattered and he was aided by two inning ending double plays turned by Doug Flutie and Pete Castoldi. The Bulldogs play two more games before the playoffs begin that will determine their seeding in the playoff round. At this writing they will most likely be on the road for the first game versus either the Watertown Reds or Wakefield Merchants on Friday night. 

By Jeff Pierce Daily Times Chronicle 

Watertown (1)-  Manning 3-1, McEvoy 3-2, Busby 1-0, Callahan 2-0, Casey 2-0, Tramatozzi 2-1, Brennan 2-1, Panza 1-0, Thebodo 2-0,  Totals 18-5 

Reading (0) – Castoldi 2-0, Conti 2-2, Talis 1-0, Fischer 2-0, Gagnon 1-0, Buitkus 2-2, Halsey 2-1, Zajac 2-0, Morrison 2-0,  Totals 16-5

Watertown  000  00X  X   0

Reading      000  1XX  X  1  

WP- Pedrotti   LP-   LeBrun  

Wrap: The Bulldogs put themselves in position to improve their playoff seeding with a 1-0 win in a rain shortened victory over the third place Reds at Morton Field on Sunday. With the win Reading is in the #4 playoff position which would put give them home field in the first round, however both Wakefield and Medford have games in-hand versus the Bulldogs. The five inning shutout was the first win by mid-season acquisition Brian Pedrotti and was the  third complete game shutout in the last 10 days by a Bulldog pitcher.  As has been their history over the prior three years, the Bulldogs finish the season strong and are now on their longest unbeaten streak of the year at four games. On this day somehow the game was able to be decided within an official number of innings being completed despite the impending stormy weather hovering over the Birch Meadow complex.   In the bottom of the fourth Steve Buitkus lead off with his second hit of the game. John Halsey then hit a run scoring double to the left center gap scoring Buitkus whom motored all the way around from first base. The Bulldogs still needed to record three more outs to make the games official and Pedrotti did so in quick fashion striking out the first two batters and then retiring the last batter on an infield popup  to Andy Gagnon, with the winds strongly swirling and the dark clouds unloading a deluge of rain. After the third out by the Reds the game became official and the umpires called the teams off the field. After a 30 minute wait and conditions not improving the games was called off by the umpires.    Sidebar: Bulldog third baseman and leadoff hitter Bill Cataldo had his ironman streak come to an end on Sunday, as he was given the day off by Manager Matt Morrison after the Bulldogs clinched a playoff spot on Saturday. Cataldo had played every inning for 97 consecutive games dating back to June 17, 2010.  During that period Cataldo has lead the Bulldogs in almost every offensive category including batting average, on-base percentage, hits, doubles, runs and steals.   

By Jeff Pierce    Daily Times Chronicle 

 Wakefield (0)-  Townsend 3-0, Searles 3-0, M. Sorrentino 3-1,  Ramsey 3-0,  Papa 2-0, Orlowitz 1-0, Breen 3-1, Napoli 3-0,  Losanno 3-1, Totals 24-3 

Reading (1) – Cataldo 4-1, Conti 4-1. Manzi 3-2, Talis 1-0,  Hartwell  3-1, Castoldi 3-1, Fischer 1-0, Zajac 3-0, Halsey 2-0, Buitkus 1-0,Totals 25-6 

Wakefield   000  000  0   0

Reading     000   010  x   1 

WP- Church   LP- Bisso  

Wrap: The Bulldogs received their second complete game shutout from a high school pitcher in the last seven days as they secured a very important 1-0 victory over Wakefield on Thursday evening at Morton Field. Peabody native Kevin Church (Bishop Fenwick) did not match Scott Tully’s shutout last Friday for pure power but it was just as fun to watch for Bulldog Manager Matt Morrison.  “Wakefield feasts on fast balls at the plate; they are a very strong hitting team. Kevin’s change up kept them off balance and he mixed in his fastballs and curves in good spots”.  Church who will be playing baseball at Salem State starting next Fall is not new to dominating games. “Kevin threw two no-hitters this past season at Fenwick and had a nineteen strikeout game. He knows how to pitch using primarily off speed stuff. You have to have a lot of confidence to throw these slower pitches in critical situations like he does” said Morrison. The Bulldogs experienced a lot of the same timely hitting issues as they have all year but only needed one run on the evening. The Bulldogs had already loaded the bases twice with less then two outs without scoring a run and then in the fifth the bases were loaded up again with one out. The bases were loaded after a hit by Trevor Manzi, a walk to Zac Talis and a Darren Hartwell single. Pete Castoldi then hit a hard grounder to the left of the shortstop that looked like a potential double play ball. However Hartwell’s speed paid off as he broke up the double play with a hard slide, and the Bulldogs finally capitalized for a 1-0 lead. “We must lead the league in runners left on base I have never seen anything like it “said Morrison, “we are one of the top few teams in the league in on-base percentage but almost last in runs scored”. On this night it did not hurt the Bulldogs and they came away with a big two points forcing their rivals to finish strong to knock them out of their playoff position. “We want to win two over the weekend and not count on teams losing for us to get in. It is important that we do not back into the spot and that we go into the playoffs on the upswing like we have the past two seasons” said Morrison.  

By Jeff Pierce  Daily Times Chronicle 

Wakefield (5)-  Townsend 4-0, Searles 4-2, M. Sorrentino 4-2,  Ramsey 3-1,  Papa 4-1, Orlowitz 3-1, Breen 4-2, Hartung 2-0,  Losanno 3-1, Totals 31-10

Reading (5) – Cataldo 3-1, Conti 4-1. Manzi 4-1, Talis 4-1, Taylor 4-2,  Fischer 4-1, Hartwell 2-2, Gagnon 2-1, Flutie 1-1, Castoldi 1-0, Totals 29-11 

Wakefield   101  020 1   5

Reading     300  101  0   5 

Doubles – Breen, Manzi 

TP- Maki, Mahon

Wrap: The Bulldogs came away with a disappointing 5-5 tie with Wakefield on a dark drizzly evening at Morton Field in which they lost two late game leads and were one strike away from a win in the final inning. It is essential to the Bulldogs playoff aspirations that they win two or three games in the final week of the regular season. It appeared that they had one in the books as they had leads of 3-1, 4-2 and 5-4 at different points during the game but they could not finish off the hard hitting Merchants. The Bulldogs had taken advantage of some aggressive base running and clutch hitting from Darren Hartwell (.400 BA) to take a 4-2 lead into the fifth inning. Hartwell had singled in a run in the first inning. Then in the fourth he singled and went from first to third on a hit and run single by Andy Gagnon. Doug Flutie was then thrown out on a bunt atempt but Hartwell raced home from third on a delay when he caught Wakefield napping on the play. Reading appeared to the get through the fifth with a two run cushion but on an apparent inning ending double play the runner at first was judged to have beaten the throw. The next three batters then reached successfully including a two run single from Joe Breen to tie the game at four. Reading scored the go ahead run under the darkening skies in the sixth inning when Hartwell came around to score after a lead off walk and infield hits from Bill Cataldo and Nick Conti. Bulldog reliever Dylan Maki tried to close out the win but was victimized by an infield error and passed ball which preceded Dave Orlowitz’s two out single that brought home the final run of the game. Extra innings were not an option with the lessening of daylight on the last day of July being accompanied by the dark rain clouds.   The one point for the tie helps the Bulldogs in the standings but at games end the disappointment from the opportunity lost was evident on the Bulldog bench, which had been very lively and vocal all evening.

By Jeff Pierce  Daily Times Chronicle 

Reading (1) – Cataldo  4-1, Conti 4-2, Manzi 4-1,  Talis 2-2, Taylor 3-0,  Fischer 2-1, Hartwell 3-0, Gagnon 3-0, Buitkus 3-0  Totals 28-7

 Andre (8) – Bercume 4-1, Deshler 4-2, Portes 4-2, Baillargeon 2-0, Andre 3-0, Landers 2-1, DiCato 3-0,  Yanakopoulos 3-1, Barbati 2-1  Totals 27-8  

Reading      000 010 0  -1

Andre          100 304 x  -8 

Doubles: Deshler, Portes, Yanakopoulos

Home Run- Portes 

WP-   Freni   LP-    Boyle  

Wrap: The last time the Bulldogs met the Andre Chiefs they had their best victory of the year and they were hoping it would give them momentum going into the final third of the season.  Since that win the Bulldogs have gone in the other direction after losing their third straight game by a score of 8-1 to Andre at Malden Catholic HS on Wednesday evening. The Chiefs had only scored one run in their previous two games with Reading but on this night they jumped out with a run in the first on a Juan Portes home run to dead centerfield. The Chiefs starter Jared Freni was the leagues co-pitcher of the year last season and is a hard thrower with a twelve to six curveball. The Bulldogs had good at-bats against him in the early innings getting runners on in each inning after the first, but failed to take advantage until Zac Talis’s two out single in the fifth. “Story of our season right there” said Coach Morrison, “one of the top hurlers in the league, we have good swings on him all night but we leave seven runners on-base in the middle four innings”. Meanwhile Andre had extended their league in the fourth to 4-0, on back to back doubles by Tony Deshler and Portes coupled with some infield miscues, two stolen bases and a run scoring balk.  Sean Boyle, the Bulldog starter, had his best start in a long while allowing just three hits and striking out five. Morrison liked what he saw out of his starting pitcher, “It was a good sign from Sean tonight, it was his best command and the most live we have seen his arm all year. That was a good positive to take out of the game tonight”. Freni had a strong finish to put away the game striking out eleven batters on the evening. The final score of 8-1 was deceiving as the Chiefs scored four late runs in the sixth with two outs after a couple of fly balls were lost in the lights. The Bulldogs have a big match up on Friday night at 7PM in Arlington, where they face their nearest competitor for the final playoff start, with RMHS Scott Tully scheduled to be the Bulldog starter.