Reds Take Offensive Battle at Broadway

By Dean Barker
The Bridgewater Reds managed to win a high-scoring 12-8 contest at the defending RCBL champion Broadway Bruins on Saturday, June 26. The win snapped a four game losing streak for the Reds and bumped them out of last place for the moment. Following the win, Bridgewater moves to 2-8 on the season, while the Bruins fall to 5-3 and a three-way tie for second place.

Dylan Shifflet gave up six runs and struck out fourteen in eight innings to improve to 1-1 on the year and pick up his first win. At the plate, Shifflet went 2-4 with two RBIs and three runs scored. Dylan Horne pitched the final inning, giving up two runs and striking out three. Horne went 0-3 with a walk and a run scored at the plate.

Cole Holsinger took the loss for Broadway, giving up six runs in the first inning before being pulled. Dawson Moomaw relieved him, allowing two runs to score in two innings. Jett Shue pitched the final five innings, giving up four runs and striking out four.

The Reds wasted little time, as Antonio Florentino-Sosa drove in Noah Cornwell with an RBI single and Grey Sherfey followed up with an RBI triple. Not to be outdone, the Bruins would respond in the bottom half with three runs of their own. Devon Neal would drive in two runners with an RBI single, and he would be brought home by a single from Jacob Petersheim.

Bridgewater would reclaim the lead for good in the top of the second. After two runners reached base and a sacrifice bunt from Cayden Clements moved them into scoring position, Shifflet drove them both in with a single. Next up, Brett Tharp would crush a two run homer to right field to put the Reds up 6-3. Bridgewater would add two from a Grey Sherfey RBI single in the fourth to make it 8-3.

The Bruins would try to start a rally in the eighth, as three runs would come home on three wild pitches. With two runners on and two outs, the lead run came to the plate in Trevor Thomas, but Shifflet would set him down for his fourteenth and final strikeout of the night.

The Reds would get all the runs they needed in the top of the ninth. After retiring two of the first three batters, Jett Shue looked as though he was about to set the Bruins up for a rally in the bottom of the ninth. However, he would walk Clements, and after the umpire ruled that Shifflet leaned into a pitch, he would rip a single to load the bases. Tharp would walk to bring in a run, and Cornwell’s double would plate three.

After striking out the first batter, Horne gave up singles to pinch hitters Jordan Yankey and Ben Hutcheson. Following two wild pitches, both runners would come home to make the score 12-8. However, Horne would regain his calm, and strike out the next two batters looking to give the Reds the victory.

Both teams left eleven runners on base. The Reds outhit the Bruins 11-8, and Broadway had four errors, compared to three from Bridgewater.

For the Reds, Brett Tharp led the way at the plate, going 1-4 with a homer in the second, three RBIs and two runs scored. He was helped by Noah Cornwell, who went 2-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Grey Sherfey went 2-5 with two RBIs, and Antonio Florentino-Sosa went 3-5 with an RBI and two runs scored.

The Bruins were led in defeat by Dylan Neal, who went 2-2 with three RBIs, two walks, a hit by pitch and a run scored. Jaydon Nixon chipped in, going 1-3 with an RBI and three runs scored. Jacob Petersheim went 1-3 with an RBI.

Shifflet is confident that this win proves the Reds are a force to be reckoned with, despite their slow start.
 
“We came into the game thinking it’s just another ballgame,” Shifflet told RCBL’s Dean Barker. “I mean, it’s a good team for sure, but if we play how we should, we’ve got a good team.”

The Reds will have two days off before they take on the Bruins again, this time at home on Tuesday, June 29 at 7:30. The Bruins will host the Elkton Blue Sox tonight, June 27 at 6:30.

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