Bruins bounce back versus Diamondbacks

By Dean Barker
After being dealt their first loss of the season last Friday at the Grottoes Cardinals, the Broadway Bruins got back in the win column with a 5-3 victory over the Stuarts Draft Diamondbacks on Sunday, June 20. With the win, the defending RCBL champion Bruins improved to 4-1, while the Diamondbacks fell to 4-3.

Dalton Benson got the win for Broadway to improve to 1-0 on the season. He went three innings, giving up a hit and two walks. Wyatt Emswiler relieved him and went an inning and two thirds, giving up all three D-Back runs. Jacob Bell finished off the remaining 4 ⅓ innings by throwing nine strikeouts and allowing no hits.
 
The Bruins pounced on the D-Backs in the first inning, as a two run bomb from Trevor Thomas and a two-run RBI single from Bryce Turner put Broadway up 4-0.

Stuarts Draft came alive in the top of the fifth, batting around the lineup and scoring on RBI singles from Cody Bartley, Bob Funk, and a walk to Chaz Harvey to bring in one. However, the Bruins would bring in Bell to make sure the Diamondbacks could score no more, as they would leave the bases loaded to keep the score 4-3.
 
“With the bases loaded, I just forget about the base runners and just pitch to contact, and trust my defense to make the right plays behind me,” Bell told RCBL’s Dean Barker.
The Diamondbacks would threaten again in the sixth, as a walk to Zach Roberts and singles from Terrel Thompson and Will Hass would load the bases with one out. Nevertheless, Bell would strike out Bartley and get Funk to fly out to first base. Bell would strike out the side in the seventh, and would have struck out the side in the eighth, were it not for a walk to Calen Owens.

Other than the shaky first inning, Stuarts Draft had a solid day on the mound. Reliever Doug Pollock would take over with one out in the third and the bases loaded, strike out the next two batters, and exit after the seventh inning. Pollock allowed no runs, one hit, one walk, and struck out five, doing all he could to set the Diamondbacks up for a comeback.

Following Pollock’s exit, the Bruins would seek some insurance in the eighth. Following a double from Caleb Taylor, who would then move to third on a dropped third strike, Broadway made it 5-3 off an RBI single from Cadlee Jarvis, pinch hitting for Landon Stuhlmiller.
 
The Diamondbacks were no match for Bell in the ninth, as he quickly retired Bartley, Funk, and Noah Canterbury.

Stuarts Draft shot themselves in the foot on the basepaths, leaving eleven runners on base, compared to eight from Broadway. The D-Backs had seven hits and five walks, whereas the Bruins had nine hits and three walks.

The Diamondbacks were led in defeat by Cody Bartley (1-5) and Bob Funk (2-5), who both had one RBI single. Zach Roberts went 2-3 with two walks and a run scored.

For the Bruins, Thomas went 1-4 with two RBIs from a two run homer. Turner went 1-2 with a walk and two RBIs. Jarvis went 1-2 with an RBI single. Taylor went 2-4, and Trent Abernathy went 2-3.
 
After taking today off, the Bruins will be back at home for a rematch against Grottoes on Tuesday, June 22 at 7:30 pm. When asked what the Bruins will need to do to avenge last week’s loss, Bell said “I think just what we did tonight, just… regroup and refocus, take it game by game, and come right after it.”

The Diamondbacks will have all week to adjust before they host last year’s RCBL runner-up in the New Market Shockers on Saturday, June 26 at 7:30 pm.

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