Glen Rose holds Bulls to one hit in final six innings for 6-1 victory
By Robert Morgan | Published Thursday, May 21, 2009
Bridgeport coach John Ward knew his team was going to face one of the best pitcher had faced all year in Monday night's playoff game against Glen Rose. However, the Bulls came out swinging against the district champions to get the bulk of their hits and runs in the first inning.
That was all the success Bridgeport had against right-hander Derek Thompson. The senior standout struck out 11 batters in the final six innings - 13 for the night - and the Bulls managed just one hit after the first inning en route to a 6-1 loss in the Class 3A area championship game in Saginaw.
The loss ended Bridgeport's most successful season in eight years with a 15-11 overall record. Glen Rose moved to 16-4 and will face the winner of Tuesday's Decatur/Burnet game this weekend in a three-game regional quarterfinal series.
The Bulls did not fear Thompson in the first inning of the winner-take-all game. In fact, they made it look easy as they scattered three hits, scored once and were 90 feet away from another run before a strikeout ended the inning.
Junior Diego Hernandez set the tone for the inning as he led off with a single to center field and was followed by Kyle Parker who showed off his speed as he beat the tag at first base for an infield single. Junior Austin Blevins completed the trifecta as he blasted an RBI single to left field to easily score Hernandez and give BHS a 1-0 lead.
Bridgeport was unable to add to its lead despite runners on the corners with no outs. Thompson forced a ground out and struck out two others to get out of the early jam.
The Tigers slowly put the game out of reach with solo runs in the first three innings. They tied the game in the bottom of the first on the first of four unearned runs when Thompson helped his own cause with a two-out RBI single to right field to score Colt Plaster, who was hit by a pitch, to make it a 1-1 contest.
The Bulls went down in order in the second inning on just four pitches, which allowed Glen Rose to take the lead. One error, a walk and two wild pitches allowed GRHS to score with no hits and move in front 2-1.
Parker singled in the third inning and made his way to second base with just one out but he did not get close to home. However, the Tigers managed one run in the bottom half thanks to another error and a walk to score their second run of the night with a hit to take a 3-1 advantage.
Glen Rose picked up its second hit of the night in the fourth inning to take control of the game. Reagan Rotan lined a single to right field to score R.J. Nowak who had walked. Rotan later scored on a passed ball to make it a 5-1 contest.
Bridgeport was not able to get anything going offensively through the middle stretch of the game where Thompson struck out seven out of eight batters and nine of the final 11 batters he faced.
The Tigers got a double in the sixth inning to score their final run of the game.
Bridgeport pitcher Blake Waldrep went the distance and allowed just four hits and one earned run.
