For four innings, it could have been called a pitcher’s duel.
The Bradford baseball team’s offense, aided by timely hits and a pair of errors, came alive late in the game, however.
The Owls (2-2) scored six runs in the fifth inning and three more in the sixth on their way to a 10-4 victory over Elk County Cathlolic (0-4) at Pitt-Bradford on Friday.
The teams traded runs in the first inning before being held scoreless until the fifth, when ECC took advantage of a Bradford mistake.
Bradford starting pitcher Nolan Ruolo had retired nine-consecutive batters when a third-strike wild pitch put Tommy Slay on first for the Crusaders. A walk then preceded a two-run single by Joe Tettis, giving ECC its second lead of the game.
The Owls responded to a Crusader mistake in the bottom of the fifth, however, to change the game’s momentum.
With two outs and runners on second and third, ECC went to its bullpen. Tettis replaced Slay and got a ground ball to shortstop, but it wasn’t fielded cleanly, allowing a run to score and the inning to continue.
Brett Danias-Skaggs followed with a two-run single for the Owls before Cam Austin singled home another. A pinch-hit single by Levi Reed brought home two more, and by the time ECC recorded a third out, Bradford had plated six runs.
“(We) capitalized on their mistake,” Bradford coach Eric Haynoski said. “That’s what we tell our guys, if we see a mistake and get a four-out inning, we’ve got to pounce on that.”
ECC got one back in the top of the sixth, but Bradford broke the game open with three more runs in the bottom half.
After a pair of walks drawn by Ruolo and Austen Davis, Danias-Skaggs reached on a two-out infield error that resulted in a run scored. Austin followed that up with a two-run single, leaving him with three runs batted in on the day.
Davis finished at 2-for-2 with a walk and three runs scored, his other at-bat resulting in a sacrifice bunt in the third.
Davis’ bunt was one of two sacrifices that the Owls got down in the game. The first came off of Michael Gow’s bat in the first inning after Bradford started the frame with a single and a walk. The lead runner then scored on a Ruolo groundout immediately after.
“A little old-school baseball,” Haynoski said. “We’ve got to get back to the fundamentals. We’ve got to manufacture runs. It’s a grind sometimes, and we’ve been pushing fundamentals and they’ve been coming through.”
Ruolo threw six innings for the Owls, surrendering four walks and five hits while striking out four. Ruolo walked the first two batters of the game, but found the strike zone and pitched to contact afterward.
“He settled right in after those first two batters and did what we asked of him,” Haynoski said. “He really settled in, threw strikes and pounded the zone. Let his defense go to work.”
Haynoski was pleased by his defense’s effort against ECC, as the Owls played a clean game in the field after committing three errors against DuBois on Thursday. He also complimented the liveliness of his bench.
“(We) made a great effort defensively,” Haynoski said. “(Dalton) Dixon made some great plays in the outfield. We bumped him out there just to give him a different view, and he played great out there. Davis did great at short.”
Michael Greenberg came in to pitch the seventh inning for Bradford with a six-run lead, and shut the door on the Crusaders.
“His knuckleball was moving all over,” Haynoski said. “He settled in and I think it was a big confidence builder for him.”
Bradford will look to build momentum from Friday’s win in the midst of a five-game homestand, as the Owls will host Port Allegany on Monday, Punxsutawney on Wednesday and Johnsonburg on Saturday.
“We’re a fifth of the way through the season with lots to go,” Haynoski said. “As long as we continue to improve, we’ll be fine.”
AT BRADFORD
R H E
Elk Catholic 100 021 0 4 5 3
Bradford 100 063 X 10 5 0
ECC: Tommy Slay (4 SO, 5 BB), Joe Tettis (5) (0 SO, 2 BB) and Isaac Dellaquila
Bradford: Nolan Ruolo (4 SO, 4 BB), Michael Greenberg (7) (1 SO, 1 BB) and Calvin Minich and Brett Danias-Skaggs
