On Feb. 17, the Bridgewater baseball team lost its home opener to Desales with a score of 13-9.
It was a rough start for the Eagles as Desales got a good groove in from the bats after JT Anderosky hit a triple towards center field which was followed by the very next batter getting hit by a pitch.
Owen Fischl of Desales was able to bring in runner Anderosky because of an error, and Travis Kerr followed by getting another hit to bring in the other runner for the first two runs of the game. The third score was made after Shane Anhalt had a sacrifice fly that led to Fischl scoring.
Senior pitcher James Swart was able to get out the inning by striking the next batter out. The Eagles did not have the same success Desales had in the first inning and unfortunately went down in order.
Desales started the second inning off hot, but Swart was able to battle back and get out the next batters to close the inning.
Sophomore Luke Tomajczyk led up the third inning with a double down the left field line, sparking the bats for BC. With a single to deep center field, senior Kyle Carlson maintained the momentum and advanced Tomajczyk to third base. After a groundout to shortstop, senior Tristan Gordon scored Tomajczyk from third base to trim the lead to three, 4-1.
Tomajczyk said, “I was trying to give us a spark to get us the momentum.”
Bridgewater was able to keep the pressure on the pitcher for Desales in the bottom of the fourth inning with a number of different hitters finding ways to get on base. Junior Lucas Bauer was able to get the bases loaded for fifth year Johnathan Sexton after drawing a walk. Sexton was able to get a sacrifice fly, allowing the Eagles to score and tie the game 4-4.
Sexton said, “The grand slam would have been super nice, but I’m glad that we were able to get the score.”
Desales was able to regain the lead after finding success at bat with multiple hitters driving in runs to push the lead to 7-4. The Eagles were able to respond by driving in their own run to make the score 7-5.
Desales continued their onslaught of runs, with a double to center field that gained them two runs. Then Kerr was able to hit a single towards center field to plate two more runs, causing the lead to jump out to 11-5.
Gordon hit a deep ball to left field in the bottom of the sixth inning, scoring three runs. After, freshman Christian Harris singled to left field which was followed by Snider getting a triple out to right center field.
In the top of the seventh inning, Desales was able to load up the bases, but sophomore Andrew Baugher was able to halt them by striking out the next batter and causing a pop fly out to Gordon.
Anderosky continued his big day for Desales, striking a double down the right field line letting Justin Detaso score from second base pushing the lead out to 12-9.
Anhalt was able to hit a sacrifice bunt to draw in another runner from third to give Desales a 13-9 lead. The Eagles tried to mount a comeback with senior Brandon Hartman hitting a leadoff single to left field which was followed by Sexton drawing a walk to give BC a chance, but the game came to an end with a foul out to the first baseman for the third and final out.
Since this game against Desales, Bridgewater has had very strong success. They have won 14 out of their last 21 games and now sit on a record of 14-9. They have had multiple games with 10 or more runs, with strong contributions from sophomore Nick Stravos averaging over .350 batting at the plate. There have been multiple players on the Bridgewater team who have hit at least one homerun on the year as well.
Bridgewater looks to continue their success as they progress through the middle part of the season and look to make the ODAC tournament.
Bridgewater is set to play a double header at home on Saturday, March 30 against Ferrum.
