Published Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:10 PM
Updated Tuesday, May 06, 2008 3:29 PM
Pat Dolan (l) receives praise from his teammates after hitting a homerun Saturday. Dolan was also the winning pitcher.
Dolan leads Wave past Knights
The Green Wave (19-7) earned a 5-4 win over the Knights (21-5) in Summerville to remain in the winner’s bracket.
Stratford went into the other bracket and will now need to win four straight games in order to advance to the state finals. Summerville faced Conway Monday while Stratford faced Wando.
CSU bound senior Pat Dolan turned in another stellar performance on the mound to improve his pitching record to 7-1 on the year. Dolan threw a complete game, striking out eight Knight batters while surrendering only four hits. Meanwhile, Summerville managed 11 hits from seven different batters. Tyler Hill (2-2) suffered the loss.
“Pat threw a superb game,” Summerville coach Burt Bazzle said. “He did a good job changing his speeds to keep them off balance. Compared to earlier in the year, more guys are contributing at the plate for us. We are playing with a great deal of confidence. When we went down 2-0, it didn’t bother them because they knew they would hit the ball.”
In the top of the second inning, Damon Ardis hit a grounder and the throw to first was high. The ball sailed out of play, allowing Ardis to reach second. He then stole third on a past ball and scored on a wild pitch. Josh Crout then drove in courtesy runner Andre Colden for a 2-0 Knights’ lead.
In the bottom of the frame, Stratford gave up two runs on two hits and three errors. Jacob Webb got things going for the Wave with a base hit and then Zach Dibble, Grant Williamson and Tyler Veronee reached on three straight errors. Veronee drove in Webb for a 2-1 score and Branden Millhouse followed with a base hit to plate Dibble and tie the score.
The Wave took the lead in the bottom of the third. Dolan led off the bottom of the frame with a home run. Aaron Bouronich then doubled and Webb reached on an error. Dibble reached on a bunt single to load the bases and Williamson had a single to plate Bouronich, giving Summerville a 4-2 lead. Millhouse reached on a single in the bottom of the fourth and scored the game-winning run when he stole home on a wild pitch.
Stratford’s Aaron Preston led off the sixth with a home run to right-center field for a 5-3 score. Stratford then rallied in the top of the final inning. Mark Bone and Crout led off the inning with walks. Kyle Legette then moved Bone over with a fielder’s choice and Andre Colden came in to run for Bone. Jeremy Eades plated Colden with a single, but then Summerville got out of the inning with a fielder’s choice and a strikeout.
Millhouse led all batters, going 3-for-4 at the plate. Dolan was 2-for-3 and Fletcher was 2-for-4. The Stratford hits came from Eades, Preston, Crout and Legette.
“We knew it was going to be close and we just gave them too many chances,” Stratford coach John Chalus said. “The team was ready to play, but it was just one of those nights. Summerville is one of those teams that you just can’t give more than three outs an inning. Also, we looked at too many strikes. But, I’m proud of the team for fighting until the end.”
Contact Roger Lee @ 873-9424 ext. 213 or rlee@journalscene.com.