Reading Bulldogs

By:  Jeff Pierce Daily Times Chronicle 

 Reading (3) – Cataldo 3-0, Conti 4-0, Manzi 3-2, Talis 3-2, Taylor 3-1, Hartwell 4-2, Gagnon 2-0, Buitkus 2-1, Zajac 2-0 Totals 26-8 

Arlington (0)-  Freidman 1-0, Brown 3-0, Way 3-1, Csapler 3-0, Perkins 2-0, Mansfield 3-0, O’Neil 3-1, Griffin 3-1, Hart 2-0, Conner 1-0  Totals 24-3 

Reading   020 001 0   3

Arlington  000 000 0   0 

Double-  O'Neil

Triple-  Taylor

WP- Tully   LP-  Oberg  

Wrap: On Friday night, in their biggest game of the season to date, the Bulldogs turned to 17 year old Scott Tully to stop a three game losing streak and give them a small cushion in the race for a playoff position, versus Arlington. Tully responded with his most dominant Bulldog performance to date, as he struck out 13 Trojans on his way to a complete game three hit shutout, as the Bulldogs prevailed 3-0 under the lights at Summer St. field. The Bulldogs put together a rally in the second inning that gave them the only runs they would need with Tully on the hill.  The league’s top hitter Zac Talis (.511 BA) lead the inning off by being hit by a pitch. (Over the past 12 games Talis is hitting at a .567 clip and has reached base twenty- seven times in his last forty at-bats.).  Mike Taylor then stepped up blasting a line drive triple to centerfield scoring Talis. Darren Hartwell knocked in Taylor with an infield out making the score 2-0. From there it was the Tully show as the Trojans threatened to score just once on the night. In the fifth inning, Paul O’Neil hit a one out double and then the next hitter reached on a slow roller to second when the long infield grass allowed the runner to beat the throw. After a two-out walk loaded the bases the game result was clearly in the balance. The next batter up was former minor league professional and the 2006 captain of the Harvard baseball team, Morgan Brown. Tully reared back on a 2-2 pitch and threw a fastball on the outside corner that Brown could only waive at, the third time he struck out Brown on the night. Coach Matt Morrison marveled at the seventeen years old poise and power, “he totally overmatched a player who used to get paid to play the game, all night long.”  A Bill Cataldo infielder grounder brought home an insurance run, and Tully went on to retire the Trojans in order the rest of the way while striking out four batters.  The Bulldogs still have a tough road to hoe to secure a playoff spot and play their last seven games in the next eight days. “We need a few more of these type performances the rest of the way to get back into the postseason”, said Morrison, “it all begins with pitching in this league and I would expect our starters to step up to the challenge this week”. 

By Jeff Pierce   Daily Times Chronicle 

Medford (6)-  Burgoyne 4-0, Salvati 4-0, Davis 4-2, Sheehan 1-0,  McConnville 4-1, Ohanesian 3-1, Gray 4-3, Pashos 4-3, Gunn 2-0,  Totals 33-10

Reading (4) – Cataldo 3-0, Conti 4-1, Manzi 4-3,Talis 2-1, Taylor 1-0, Fischer 3-1, Hartwell 4-1, Gagnon 3-0,Zajac 3-0, Totals 27-7

Medford   014 001 0  - 6

Reading   040 000 0   -4 

Doubles: Gray 

WP- Richard   LP-   O’Neil   

Wrap: The Bulldogs fell flat at home on Sunday evening in a key matchup against the Medford Americans by a score of 6-4, in a game that had important playoff implications. As has been a repeating pattern for Reading this year, their failure to break open games early with key hits and giving up leads in the middle and late innings are the main reasons they stand at 10-12-1 and narrowly hanging on to the final playoff spot with less than two weeks left in the season. Early on the Bulldogs looked like they were going to take advantage of the wild Medford starter who walked six batters in the first two innings by scoring four runs. In the second inning Trevor Manzi  knocked in a run with one of his three hits on the night to provide Reading with a 4-1 lead. Unfortunately that was the end of the offense and the lead was lost six batters into the next American time at-bat. The key hit was provided by former RMHS (’10) outfielder Andrew Gray who knocked in two runs with a double in the four run uprising.  The Bulldogs had one more threat in the bottom of the fourth but with the bases loaded the Medford reliever Jon Richard struck out both Alex Fisher and Darren Hartwell to end the inning. This was the start of a five game week for the Bulldogs including playing the first and second place teams three times, and their chances of reaching the playoffs for the third straight year will most likely be decided over this stretch of games.

By Jeff Pierce  Daily Times Chronicle 

Reading (6) – Cataldo 4-1, Conti 4-0, Manzi 4-1, Talis 3-3, Taylor 2-2, Fischer 2-0, Buitkus 2-0, Hartwell 3-2, O’Leary 1-0, Castoldi 4-0, Zajac 2-0, Totals 31-9 

Lexington (16) – Curley 2-1, Aramo 1-0, Wright 4-1, Gath 4-3, Graham 2-1, Mirabella 1-0, Ahern 2-0, Abraham 1-0, Viguers 4-3, Morgan 1-0, Everett 3-1, Walsh 2-1, McKenna 4-2, Healey 1-0, Capra 2-0   Totals 34-13 

Reading                020 200 2  -6

Lexington              036 700 X -16 

Doubles: Wright, Gath, Viguers (2), Taylor, Manzi

Home Runs:  Talis, Taylor, Graham 

WP- Bodnar   LP-  Church  

Wrap: The short-staffed Bulldogs went down to the first place Blue Sox in a game that got out-of-hand early, losing 16-6 at Lexington High School on Wednesday night. The Bulldogs had no available regular starting pitchers going into the den of the champion Blue Sox team and a weather postponement would have been beneficial, however inexplicably Lexington was barely touched by the wild weather and the game went off under perfect field conditions. Reading had a nice start enjoying a 2-0 lead in the second inning when Zac Talis and Mike Taylor hit back to back home runs off one of the league’s premier pitchers Steve Bodnar. The lead didn’t last long as the Blue Sox quickly took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the inning after Reading native Steve Gath’s two-run double. The next two innings were a nightmare for the Bulldogs who had to use a string of 4 relievers in place of one of their starters, and free passes were a problem all night. In a two inning stretch the Bulldog pitchers issued 7 walks and hit two batters, and in the fourth inning Lexington scored seven runs after the first two batters of the inning were retired. The Bulldogs wasted another good hitting outing as they managed nine hits off the top pitching staff in the league and had thirteen base runners reach. Reading is off until Sunday where they host Medford whom they are battling with for a playoff position. 

Reading (6) – Cataldo 4-2, Conti 4-1, Manzi 5-1, Talis 4-2, Hartwell 4-2, Castoldi 3-1, Gagnon 3-1, O’Leary 3-3, Zajac 2-0, Totals 32-13 

Mooney (7)-  McDonald 4-1, Collins 4-2, Valdez 3-0, DeNapoli 4-2, Ruxin 3-1, Porter 1-1, O’Loughlin 3-1, McKensie 3-1, McCarthy 2-1,  Totals 28-10

 Reading                 002 012 1  6

Mooney Dental      500 100 1 -7 

Doubles: Conti, Talis (2), Cataldo, Collins 

WP- Maestri   LP-  Church  

 By Jeff Pierce  Daily Times Chronicle

Reading vs. Andre Chiefs 7/15/12 at Morton Field 

Andre (0) – Bercume 3-1, Deshler 2-0, Baillargeon 3-0, Andre 3-0, DiCato 2-0, Boleski 3-0, Barbati 1-0, Yanakopoulos 3-0, Leva 2-0,Totals 22-1 

Reading (4) – Hartwell 4-2, Cataldo 2-1, Talis 2-1, Taylor 4-1,  Fischer 1-0, Castoldi 4-0, Bishop 3-1, Buitkus 1-1, Flutie 3-1, Totals 24-8 

Home Run- Taylor 

WP-   O’Neil  LP-    Matt Dicato

 Andre          0000000 -0

Reading      000211X -4  

Wrap: 

The Bulldogs earned a much needed win on Sunday evening against the Andre Chiefs behind the one hit pitching of Brian O’Neil, by a score of 4-0. The Bulldogs had only beaten the Chiefs one time in their three year history going into a game that was critical for their playoff aspirations. In their prior meeting in June the match-up ended up in a nine inning tie, in a game that featured numerous Bulldog opportunities to win the game in the latter innings. “Our record is .500 which is a true indication of the type of team we have been”, said Matt Morrison, “after a very deflating loss on Friday night there was no doubt in my mind that we were capable of turning it around against one of the top teams in the league”. The North Reading native and former Bryant University pitcher O’Neil received the assignment after a 15 day layoff and he had his best command of the season. O’Neil allowed one hit off the glove a diving infielder and issued just two walks, and had a hit batter. “Brian was a Division I collegiate pitcher, he can dominate and tonight he put together his usual hard fastball with great command, he made it a quick outing for us”, said Morrison. The Bulldogs got all they needed for runs in the fourth inning. Andrew Bishop had a one out single followed by hits from Steve Buitkus and Doug Flutie.  From their Darren Hartwell knocked in two with a single through the box giving Reading a 2-0 lead. The Bulldogs added insurance late with Mike Taylor’s moon shot home run to right field, and then threatened for more with two on but the 48 year old Flutie’s 350 ft line drive was tracked down on the warning track. A small threat by Andre in the last inning, against reliever Brian Pedrotti , was ended with a foul pop to the catcher Matt Zajac to end the game. Going into the last two weeks of the regular season the Bulldogs have the toughest part of their schedule ahead and are still in the battle for seeds 4 through 8. “After five games in eight days we have a light week so its much needed for our pitchers and hopefully we start stringing some wins together rather then our season long trend of win one lose one” said Morrison.