The Carlton Bulldogs have found a one-two punch in the pitching rotation - and that means trouble for Polar League teams.
Last Thursday, the Bulldogs used the pitching of Adrian Buller to pull out a 3-1 win over Barnum and on Tuesday it was a 6-3 win over Cherry behind lefty Peter Allen.
"On Thursday we got another strong pitching performance from Adrian Buller pitching all seven innings, striking out 12 and giving up an earned run," recalled Carlton coach Scott Battaglia. "We had some opportunities to score some runs early in the game, but couldn't come up with any timely hits."
Despite the lack of early offense for the Bulldogs, it was the work of Buller that kept the game tight and allowed for them to get untracked later in the game.
"In the third inning we were up 2-0 and had guys on second and third with no outs and left them both on base," stated Battaglia. "Alex Johnson pitched a complete game for Barnum and had 16 strikeouts. We really need to cut down on our strikeouts and do a better job of putting the ball in play, forcing them to make plays."
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As good as Johnson was, the Bulldogs were able to get just enough offense to win the tight game, with Caleb Hatfield hitting a solo homer and Peter Allen belting out a pair of doubles in a 2-for-4 effort at the plate.
Johnson allowed just five hits in his seven innings of work for the Bombers.
- Last Tuesday night Allen pitched all seven innings against Cherry in the 6-3 victory.
"Peter threw very well," mentioned Battaglia. "He struck out 14 batters, walked two, gave up six hits and two earned runs."
Mike Saunders and Buller carried the load on offense with two hits and two RBIs for Saunders and four hits and two RBIs for Buller.
"I was very pleased with how well we played, being it was our first game," commented Battaglia. "Offensively we had some kids come up with timely hits, but we also left a lot of guys on base. Peter pitched very well and the defense made some plays behind him."
The Bulldogs are 2-0 on the season.
Pine Journal sports reporter Kerry Rodd can be contacted at: kdrodd@aol.com .
