Bulldogs Come From Behind To Beat Issaquah 6-2

The Issaquah Eagles got off to a good start this afternoon, scoring 2 runs in the top of the 1st inning. Their pitcher retired the first 10 Bulldog batters he faced. Things were not looking for the Garfield Bulldogs, who hadn’t had much success this season after falling behind their opponents early in the game. Garfield’s offense got started with 4 consecutive singles in the 4th inning to even the score at 2-2. Tyler Nguyen hit a double down the 3rd base line and scored the go-ahead run on a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the 5th inning to take a 3-2 lead for the Bulldogs. Derek Billey made one of the greatest catches the coaching staff had ever seen a Garfield outfielder make on a ball way over his shoulder in left-center field that saved a run. The very next batter popped up to the catcher on a hit-and-run for a double play to end the inning. The Bulldogs would plate 3 more runs in the 6th on a single by Billey, a triple to center field by Duncan Skerrett, and a clutch 2-run single up the middle by Nguyen past a drawn-in Issaquah infield. With some insurance runs, starter Owen Vickrey slammed the door in the 7th to finish off the complete game victory. Vickrey allowed only 1 walk and 5 hits during his 7 innings pitched. The win was Garfield’s first home win this season and first conference win. Varsity (4-12 overall, 1-11 in conference) will play at Whitman on Wednesday against city rival Ballard.

Garfield’s JV team lost 11-1 in 5 innings at Issaquah. The JV Bulldogs (5-11 overall, 2-10 in conference) will play at Bobby Morris Playfield on Wednesday afternoon against Ballard.

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Bulldogs Snap Losing Streak, KO Kangs 5-1

The Garfield Bulldogs got excellent pitching performances on Saturday afternoon from Toby Perkins and Aidan Miller. Perkins pitched 3 scoreless innings while striking out 5 Lake Washington Kangaroo hitters. Miller followed him in relief to make his Varsity debut. After giving up an early run in the 4th inning, he would go on to pitch 3 more shutout innings to earn the save for Garfield. The win marked the first time the Bulldogs have won in over 5 weeks.

Duncan Skerrett had a stolen base and 2 hits, including a double. Alex Gregory had 2 clutch hits, 1 RBI, and a stolen base. Ben Koerner had a single, a RBI groundout, and a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt.  Garfield’s offense put together some quality at-bats against the Kangs and managed to avoid getting called out on strikes–something that has plagued the team in past weeks. The Bulldogs also did not commit a single defensive error or issue a walk to the Lake Washington lineup.

Garfield (3-12 overall, 0-11 in Kingco) will host Issaquah on Monday afternoon. The JV team will play at Issaquah on Monday afternoon.

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Dogs Fall Behind Early & Can’t Recover In 10-2 Loss

The rain clouds parted for some baseball at Garfield this afternoon with the Skyline Spartans coming to town. The Bulldogs (2-12 overall, 0-11 in conference) fell behind in the 1st inning off 4 errors, which led to 5 Spartan runs. Skyline would tack on a run in the 2nd before chasing starter Henry Freed. David Brinkley came in, providing solid relief for a few innings before tiring and allowing the Spartans to tack on a couple insurance runs in the 6th. The high volume of walks and hit batters for the Bulldogs was too much to keep the team competitive against the 1st place team in the division.

The Bulldogs offense sputtered other than a couple hits by Eli Wilson and a double by Ben Koerner. Garfield was able to get some runners on base against the Skyline southpaw, but was unable to get a clutch hit to make the game interesting, with the Spartans pitcher striking out 11 batters in 5 innings pitched. The defensive highlights included a pair of run-downs on a pickoff by Garfield pitcher David Brinkley to 1st base and then catcher Ben Koerner throwing behind a runner at 2nd base to record another out. Both plays helped Garfield momentarily regain the momentum before the Spartans would reclaim it in the late innings. Unfortunately, the early Bulldogs mistakes proved too much to overcome, as they would go on to drop their 12th straight, this time by a score of 10-2. With the loss, the Bulldogs have been mathematically eliminated from the 2014 Kingco playoffs. Garfield Varsity will play a nonleague game at Lake Washington on Saturday afternoon with the hopes of ending this lengthy losing streak.

The JV team lost 8-3 in a game that was delayed over an hour due to no umpires showing up at Skyline. Once that dilemma was solved, it was difficult to get both teams going again for some baseball. Zubin Kopischke and Alex Gregory pitched for Garfield, but were unable to keep the middle of the Spartans JV order off the base paths, who did most of the damage. Aidan Miller scored a pair of runs to lead the Bulldogs offense. JV (5-10 overall, 2-9 in conference) will play at Issaquah on Monday afternoon.

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Bulldogs Lose 6-2 at Inglemoor

Backs are up against the wall now for the Garfield Bulldogs as they must win all of their remaining conference games to have a shot at making the Kingco 4A postseason tournament. The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the 1st inning over the Inglemoor Vikings last night, but were unable to hold it, eventually falling by a score of 6-2. Derek Billey had 2 doubles and Eli Wilson had 2 singles to lead the Bulldogs offense. Ben Koerner added a sacrifice fly. David Brinkley, Justin Arkills-McLain, Duncan Skerrett, and Toby Perkins held the Viking offense to only 4 hits last night, but the 8 walks and 3 hit batters came back to bite the Bulldogs. Inglemoor scored the tying run on a double steal in the 3rd inning, which was the momentum-changer in the game. Inglemoor had a couple well-placed bunts and took advantage of a few Garfield miscues to score 4 runs in the 5th and 6th innings to seal the victory. The loss marks the 11th in a row for the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs JV team put up quite the fight at Bobby Morris yesterday afternoon. Alex Gregory led off the game with a double, scoring the first of 3 Garfield runs in the 1st inning.  Aidan Miller pitched 6 strong innings, not allowing a run until the 6th inning. The Bulldogs gave up the lead in the 7th, but made it interesting by loading the bases with no outs in the bottom of the 7th. Final score was 5-4 with the Inglemoor starter finishing strong to retire the final 3 Garfield hitters for the win.

Garfield Varsity (2-11 overall, 0-10 in conference) will host Skyline on Thursday afternoon as the final round of divisional play begins. The JV team (5-9 overall, 2-8 in conference) will travel to Skyline on Thursday afternoon.

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Bothell Tops Dogs 8-3

It was a tough afternoon for the Garfield Bulldogs as they racked up yet another loss, but there were some signs of improvement. Henry Freed and David Brinkley each pitched 3 innings, allowing only 1 earned run apiece to the Bothell Cougars, who have had the most offensive success in the conference up to this point in the season. Owen Vickrey also pitched a scoreless 7th inning. Catcher Ben Koerner threw out one would-be base-stealer at 2nd and appeared to have another throw beat a runner to 3rd, but he slid around the tag and was called safe. The team did a much better job of managing the running game. Take out a couple costly defensive errors and this ballgame would have been pretty evenly matched.

Garfield’s offense started on a good note with hits by the first 2 batters, but the team wasn’t able to get a tally up on the board until the 6th inning. Duncan Skerrett had a pair of singles and Henry Freed hit a RBI double. The Bulldogs offense put pressure on the Bothell bullpen in the final inning, cutting the score to 8-3, but the rally came up short with a couple runners left on base.

The Bulldogs Varsity (2-10 overall, 0-9 in conference) losing streak stretches to 10 games. Garfield will play at Inglemoor on Monday night in the last of the crossover round of Kingco play.

Garfield’s JV team lost at Bothell 13-0 in 5 innings. The JV record is 5-8 overall, 2-7 in Kingco play. The JV team will host Inglemoor on Monday afternoon at Bobby Morris Playfield on Capitol Hill.

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Eastlake Beats Garfield 13-3 In The Rain

It was a wet one out in Sammamish last night with rain showers persisting throughout the afternoon and evening.  As expected, the dirt mound was a little sloppy by the end of the game, but the fieldturf playing surface in the infield and outfield at Eastlake was good to go for action. The Bulldogs came in sporting their brand new purple stirrups with the black and white stripes, courtesy of assistant coach Dan Billey. Unfortunately for Garfield, the Wolves jumped out to an early 8-0 lead after 2 innings and never looked back. Garfield handed out quite a few walks early in the game, coupled with a few line shots in the gap that skipped all the way to the wall. David Brinkley provided 2 innings of excellent relief pitching. Garfield’s offense was led by a triple by Owen Vickrey, a double by Patrick Lin, and a RBI single by Derek Billey. Max Folkins had the defensive highlight of the game with a sliding catch in right field.

Garfield’s Varsity team will host Bothell on Friday afternoon. The Bulldogs (2-9 overall, 0-8 in conference) are still hungry for their first conference win in 2014.

The JV Bulldogs (5-7 overall, 2-6 in conference) lost 13-2 at home to Eastlake. Alex Gregory had 9 strikeouts, but Garfield’s offense couldn’t kick it into gear until too late. The JV team will play at Bothell on Friday afternoon.

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Garfield Loses Heartbreaker To Woodinville In 7th Inning

The Garfield Bulldogs fell behind Woodinville early 2-0, but were able to tally up a 4-run 3rd inning, matching their run total in their previous 6 games. Henry Freed hit a double to right field knocking in 3 runs, and advancing to third on the throw. Alex Chase followed it up with a RBI single past a drawn-in infield, but the Garfield bats went quiet after their early offensive outburst. Bulldogs starting pitcher Owen Vickrey threw 6 strong innings, allowing just 3 runs and leaving with his team having a lead.

The Woodinville Falcons took advantage of 3 walks and a throwing error in the 7th inning to load the bases and tie up the game. With 2 outs, the Woodinville batter hit a little blooper to shallow center field that center fielder Patrick Lin appeared to catch while diving. The umpires ruled it hit the ground and the Falcons were able to score 3 runs on the play to take a 7-4 lead. The Bulldogs were unable to get anything going in the bottom half of the inning to regain the momentum.

The JV team defeated Issaquah 9-4 on Thursday afternoon with a strong team performance all-around. The Bulldogs used 6 different pitchers and saw a good showing at the plate from outfielders Travis Weaver, Patrick Lin, and Jupiter Breuner. Lin made a diving catch in left field to start the game and Breuner chased down a ball hit over his head in center field to seal the deal for the final out of the ballgame.

Woodinville JV dealt Garfield quite a blow today in a 1-hit shutout. Woodinville scored 8 runs in the 1st inning and went on to win 19-0 in 5 innings. Aidan Nuttall had the team’s only hit of the afternoon.

The Varsity team (2-8 overall, 0-7 in conference) will play at Eastlake on Wednesday evening. JV (5-6 overall, 2-5 in conference) will host Eastlake on Wednesday afternoon.

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Garfield Can’t Get Big Hit To Beat Redmond

On a bright and beautiful sunny afternoon in Seattle, the Redmond Mustangs defeated the Bulldogs 5-1. Redmond put up a couple runs in the 1st inning on a 2-out rally. They added a couple more in the 3rd and an insurance run in the 6th. Garfield stranded 15 baserunners on the afternoon. A clutch hit or two and it would have been a much different ballgame for both teams. The Garfield offense did improve in terms of having more baserunners than in any of the past 5 previous Kingco games, but the team was unable to come up with the big hit to climb back into the game. The Mustang pitching staff did a great job of getting out of jams with minimal damage.

Owen Vickrey pitched a good enough game to keep Garfield in it, but the lack of hits by the Bulldogs offense  was a major problem. The lone Bulldog run scored in the 6th inning. Garfield (0-6 league, 2-7 overall) has a bye from league play on Wednesday so the next scheduled game is on Monday afternoon at home against Woodinville.

The JV team defeated Chief Sealth on Saturday by a score of 12-0 in 5 innings. Zubin Kopischke pitched 5 innings, finally allowing a hit in the 5th and final inning. The team put up 6 runs in the 1st inning and then settled in to play solid defense for rest of the morning.

JV lost at Redmond today 5-1. Luc Carlin, Aidan Miller, and George Otis were on the mound for JV. Caleb Stocker had a RBI single and a stolen base, Travis Weaver had a double and single, Zubin Kopischke played great defense at shortstop. The JV team (1-4 conference, 4-5 overall record) will play their next game at home on Thursday afternoon against Issaquah.

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Garfield Loses At Home To Newport 6-1

The tough stretch continued for the Garfield Bulldogs with the team dropping a game against Newport 6-1. Henry Freed got the start and gave up 5 unearned runs in his 2+ innings of work due to a few costly defensive mistakes. David Brinkley came on with an execellent 5 scoreless innings of relief, including his first successful pickoff of the season.

Derek Billey had 3 singles to lead the Bulldogs offense. Ben Koerner added a single and a double. Garfield outhit the Knights 8 to 6, but the bats were silent with runners in scoring position as Garfield’s lone run scored from 3rd base on a heads-up baserunning play by Billey on a dropped 3rd strike. The defensive highlight was a laser thrown from right field by Justin Arkills-McLain to cut down a Newport runner at 3rd base to end the 1st inning.

The Bulldogs opening run through the Crown division ends with Garfield at 0-5 in the standings. The next 2 weeks will include games against the entire Crest division for the crossover round of conference play. Garfield has some work to do to climb back to the pack and get into the playoff race! Redmond will play at Garfield on Monday afternoon.

The JV team lost at Newport 1-0 in a hard-fought battle that was scoreless until the bottom of the 6th. Garfield was limited to 1 hit, but was able to get some baserunners on via the walk throughout the afternoon. Mikio Habu threw an incredible 5 shutout innings for the Bulldogs. Coach Juan Martinez was very happy with the pitching and defensive performance of the team. The JVs will play a makeup nonleague game at Chief Sealth tomorrow morning before traveling to Redmond on Monday afternoon.

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Improved Roosevelt Club Defeats Garfield 10-0

The Roosevelt Roughriders were able to maintain their standing in first place in Kingco 4A with a 10-0 victory over the Garfield Bulldogs this afternoon. Roosevelt took advantage of Garfield defensive mistakes to build an early lead and never looked back. Their southpaw pitcher threw a 5-inning complete game, scattering 4 hits. Owen Vickrey and Duncan Skerrett pitched for the Bulldogs, allowing only 6 hits to the Riders. Henry Freed had 2 singles and Jonathan Yang had a double to lead the Bulldogs offense.

The loss continues a rough road stretch for the Bulldogs (0-4 Kingco, 2-5 overall). On Friday, Garfield returns home to play Newport. The Bulldogs will play 4 of their next 6 games in their own ballpark as they attempt to climb back into the Crown division race.

The JV Bulldogs defeated Roosevelt 6-3 at home. Harald Hyllseth pitched 4 solid innings and was relieved by lefty Aidan Miller. Conor Nuttall had a RBI double in the 1st to set the tone for the afternoon. The major defensive highlight was second baseman Zubin Kopischke making a diving stop up the middle in the 7th and throwing the runner out at 1st from his knees. The game finished on an exciting note with Miller inducing a 1-6-3 double play to end the game. It was JV’s first conference win under Coach Juan Martinez and 3rd win overall (1-2 Kingco, 3-3 overall). The JV team will play at Newport in Bellevue on Friday afternoon.

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