Published: May 05, 2008 03:06 pm            

Bulldogs see season end in Graham

GRAHAM — Friday night, the Millsap Bulldogs, the away team for Game 1 of their bi-district series against the Olney Cubs, grabbed an early lead from the get-go and never looked back, as they were able to ride the wave of momentum all the way to a victory.

That was not the case in both games played Saturday afternoon and night at Graham High School Stadium, as the Cubs, who batted first in both games, got things rolling with a combined total of 14 runs in the first two innings of the two games on their way to clinching the playoff series win, winning Game 2 11-7 and Game 3 14-8.

“We could not get started,” Millsap head coach Brad Littlefield said. “In the middle of the games, we did all right, but we could not get off to a good start.”

Neither game started out well for the Bulldogs. In Game 2, the Cubs took the lead in the first inning with one run, but the game was all but decided in the second inning, when the Cubs batted around on their way to scoring five runs. Millsap starting pitcher Landon Meeker had a tough two innings on the mound. Aside from being responsible for all six runs, Meeker’s bigger problem in Game 2 was getting the ball over for a strike, as he walked seven batters, all but two of which scored.

Despite the poor starts in both games, the Bulldogs did not tuck their tails and limp out of town, as they battled to get back to within striking distance in both games.

In the second game, down 6-0, Millsap could have pulled the plug and started to gear up for Game 3. Instead, they rallied to score three runs in the bottom of the third on four hits and an error. Olney extended its lead back to six with three runs in the top of the fourth, but the Bulldogs answered back with four runs in the bottom of the fifth on five hits, including a leadoff double by Meeker.

The Bulldogs also took advantage of several Olney fielding mistakes, as Andy Chesnut and Kyle Benton were able to advance to third and home on errors.

By the end of the second game, Olney had pushed its two-run lead to four, winning the game 11-7.

The pattern of the first two games returned at the start of the third game, as the Cubs scored four runs in both the first and second innings, with Zeb Littlefield, Millsap’s Game 3 starting pitcher, surrendering four straight walks in the second, all of which eventually scored.

Yet, the story again was Millsap’s resiliency. After allowing four runs in the first inning, the Bulldogs answered right back, as three of the first four Bulldog batters reached base and all eventually scored to make it 4-3.

After a three run fifth inning, the Cubs were poised to end the game in the sixth inning by virtue of the 10-run rule, but Millsap had none of that, as Houston Earnest, Meeker, Chesnut and Benton all put runs up on the board to make it 11-7.

Olney answered back with three runs to make it 14-7, but the final run came in fine fashion, as senior Tanner Riggs saw his final high school at-bat end with the ball sailing more than 370 feet over the right-center field wall for a leadoff home run in the bottom half of the sixth.

Neither team crossed home plate again. The two teams combined to score 51 runs in the series.

“We are young — we have four freshmen, four sophomores, two juniors and two seniors,” Littlefield said. “This group is going to be pretty good one day, if they stick with it. We have to work on pitching, catching and just fundamental defense. That kind of hurt us [Saturday]. We made some errors in crucial situations that gave them that big inning.

“We have been battling all year just to get into the playoffs. The kids responded well to that. Like I said, they are young and this is going to be good for them, because it is going to make them a little hungrier, make them work a little harder.”

The Bulldogs finished the season with a record of 22-11.



Game 2

Olney 11, Millsap 7

OLN 150 301 1 — 11 9 3

MIL 003 040 0 — 7 12 3

Pollard, Barrientes (1) and Guthrie. Meeker, Van Gundy (2), Evans (7) and Callan. W — Barrientes. L — Meeker. 2b — (OLN) Pittman, Guthrie; (MIL) Meeker. SB — (OLN) Guthrie; (MIL) Evans.



Game 3

Olney 14, Millsap 8

OLN 440 033 0 — 14 11 4

MIL 300 041 0 — 8 8 3

Pittman and Guthrie. Littlefield, Meeker (2) and DePriest. W — Pittman. L — Littlefield. 2b — (OLN) Pittman, Guthrie, Barrientes; (MIL) Riggs. 3b — (OLN) Pollard; (MIL) DePriest. HR — (MIL) Riggs. SB — (OLN) Pittman (2), Pollard, Cope, Mankins (2).

        

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