Grand Slam Takes the Bucks to Their Second Win in “the Dome”

By Olivia Carson
After a solid 4 -2 win Saturday night against the Grottoes Cardinals, the Bucks came with momentum to defeat the Bridgewater Reds 9 - 3 on Sunday June 6.
 
The ball game started out slow and competitive when both teams went head for head with 1 run on the board for the Bucks, until the 4th inning when second baseman for the Reds, Logan Phelps, hit the ball to right field and gained for an RBI single.
 
Things started to get a little interesting in the 6th inning when each team hit a home run.
 
The Reds were able to extend their lead 3 - 1 when Antonio Florentine-Sosa hit a homerun, gaining just one run for Bridgewater. The Bucks quickly responded with a 2-run shot by Drew Easter to tie the game 3 - 3 at the bottom of the 6th and neglected to allow another successful run by the Reds for the rest of the game.
 
With bases fully loaded in the bottom of the 7th inning, veteran for the Bucks, Tyler Bocock steps up to the plate. Knowing exactly what needs to be done, with 2 strikes, Bocock settled in and took the pitcher Chris Huffman deep with a grand slam, putting the Bucks on top (7 - 3).
 
When asked what was going through his head before hitting the grand slam, Bocock said his only focus was that he needed to “get a pitch up and drive it.”
 
The Bucks earned 2 more runs in the 8th inning to bump the lead up 9 - 3 after 2 pitching substitutions for the Reds, playing A.J. Stead who allowed a walk into home and later Nick Griffin who let Alex Knicely score Cody Swisher on a sacrifice fly to make the game.
 
The winning pitcher for the Bucks, Nick Corbin who subbed for the starter Eric Yankey in the 4th inning, struckout 5, allowed 2 earned runs and did not allow any walks in just four innings. Bocock replaced Corbin as a position player to get some reps on the mound in the 9th inning.
 
Bocock did not seem to be affected by the transition from playing shortstop and hitting a grand slam, to pitching in the last inning. He was strictly focused on getting work in and bettering himself as a flexible player.
 
Bocock does not seem to think their momentum was carried in from their win against the Cardinals the night before, he believes the atmosphere of playing at their home field, gave the Bucks the energy to grasp their second win of the season.