When it comes to life, you win some you lose some. On March 31, the Waldron Bulldogs baseball battle against Cossatot was anything but easy. Although every Diamond Dog reached a base somehow, it still took six pitchers to grind out the 19-15 win. Pitching for the Bulldogs was Matt Brigance, Braden Williams, Jaden Hutchens, Noah Patrick, Kaden Rogers, and Blake Owens. “We did not play a clean game but we hit the ball well,” stated Coach Mark Brigance. “Offensively we did the things to be good, for instance, getting a hit after an error or walk. These were the goals which we are looking for. Highlights on offense were a bases-clearing triple by Braden Williams and highlights on defense were some nifty plays by Jaden Hutchens.”
The next night, on April 1, Waldron went bats down in a 9-15 loss against the Booneville Bearcats. “Ending the night offensively was Matthew Brigance with 1 hit and scored twice. Braden Williams with 1 hit, 2 stolen bases, and a score. Caden Fuller with 2 Doubles, 1 RBI, and a score. Blake Owens with 2 singles,1 RBI, and a score. Payton Justice with 1 single, bb, and scored twice. Kaden Rogers with 1 hit and a score. And Jaden Hutchens with a single, sac fly, 2 rbi, and a score.” Starting pitcher for this match-up was Caden Fuller who worked a couple of innings along with Blake Owens who pitched 4 innings only giving up three hits. “Defensively, we had some nice catches in the outfield made by Bryson Bailey and Caden Fuller as well as a Drake Carnley to Hutchens to Jesse Dees double play. We are still struggling on defense by not playing the ball well but we can work on that. Very proud of the fight we had. We got down early and started putting some good offensive innings together. But the guys kept scoring no matter what the score was.”
The Diamond Dogs kicked off the week Monday, April 5 with an away game against the Pottsville Apaches and although it didn’t turn out quite as planned with a 5-15 loss, Waldron still remained calm and played hard all the way through. Leading the hitting was Drake Carnley with 2 hits and Matthew Brigance with 3. “We had trouble in the first inning. We struggled to throw strikes and then we didn’t field the ball well. That led us into more trouble. We bounced back on the mound with Noah Patrick throwing 4.1 innings of almost shut put ball. We had opportunities at the plate to score more runs. Take that away and we would have been much better.” With another battle tonight, The Diamond Dogs will turn their focus toward the top-ranked Danville Little Johns. “They are leading our side of the conference so they will be tough,” Coach Brigance concluded.
Photo courtesy of Bethany Brigance
