Grottoes Bats Stay Red Hot

By Leyton Pullin
The Grottoes Cardinals continued their hot streak on Wednesday night as they would defeat the Bridgewater Reds 10-4.

The Reds would silence the Grottoes offense in the top of the first retiring the Cards in order before they would hop on the board first. George Laase would come to the plate in the top of the 1st for the Reds with two on and one out and would deliver with a 2RBI single to score Jacob Grabeel and Corbin Lucas to give Bridgewater a 2-0 lead. Bridgewater would add another run in the 2nd as Brett Tharp would score from 3rd on a Derek Shifflett groundout to make the score 3-0. Grottoes starter Ty Lam would settle in after a shaky first two innings and get some run support to boost him in the top of the 3rd. Gage Wood would open the inning with a double as he would score on a Cam Irvine RBI single. Grottoes would continue to score as Dylan Nicely would hit a 2 RBI double to score Jacob Merica and Cam Irvine making the score all tied up at 3-3.
 
Grottoes would break the tie as Cam Irvine would deliver again with a 2 run Homerun over the Green Monster in left field to make the score 5-3 Grottoes. The Cards would keep their hot streak up as Tucker Garrison would hit a solo bomb to left followed by a solo bomb from David Wood as both of the lefties would go for opposite field home runs. Making the score 7-3 Grottoes. 

Eric Watkins would come in to relieve Ty Lam for Grottoes in the 7th and would load the bases in his first inning of work before Cam Irvine would help dig him out of the hole with a thought throw from third to first to end the jam. Bridgewater would be able to push a run across against Watkins in the 8th however, as Michael Fyvie would double then, score on a ground out to make the score 7-4. Grottoes would get some insurance runs following that in the top of the 8th as Dylan Nicey would single into the Bermuda Triangle behind first base and would eventually score as a throw from Corbin Lucas went right through Tanner Moyers glove and rolled into center field. David Wood followed with a RBI single to score Jacob Zoller. Gage Wood would be the next Cardinal to dig in and would put a ball of the wall in right field to get an RBI double to score Tucker Garrison making the score 10-4 for Grottoes. In the bottom of the 9th Corbin Lucas would single with two outs to try and prolong the game but Kyle Eagle would be way down in strikes to end the game.

For Bridgewater they fall to 11-9 on the year as they have one more game to complete ok the schedule. They are scheduled to take on the RCBL pennant winners with Broadway Bruins (15-5) to complete a game that was postponed after 5 innings due to a power outage in the area.
 
Grottoes picks up a big win in the tight race for the 3rd playoff spot as they move tied with Bridgewater at 11-9 on the year with one game left. Cam Irvine had a big night for the Cards as he went 2 for 5 with a homerun and 3 RBIs. Manager Tim Nicely also found some stability in his bullpen which had been struggling throughout most of the year but would get some help from a solid start by Ty Lam who went 6 innings with 2 earned runs and 1 strike out. “ We’re getting down to the end of the season where we don’t have all of our pitchers here and we need a good start and Ty gave us that,” said Nicely. Grottoes will travel to Elkton Thursday night to end the regular season.