2016 Week 10 Recap

The Bulldogs JV team wrapped up its regular season on Monday, May 2nd with a crushing 11-1 victory at home over Hale. Ryan Witter hit a 3-run homer. Tim Arnold had three hits including a triple. Willie Vogel and Nelson Huffaker added triples, while Jonas Hyllseth had a pair of singles. The offense had an early start with seven runs in the first couple innings and four more to finish it in the bottom of the 5th. The win for Coach Fell cemented Garfield JV’s record at two games above .500, a 4-game improvement from the previous year.

The C-Team knocked off O’Dea in their rematch on Wednesday, May 4th at Garfield 3-2. Taj Moore had a strong pitching outing to put the Bulldogs in a position to win the game on a walkoff sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 7th inning.

In the final game of the season, the Bulldogs defeated Ballard 12-2 on Friday, May 6th to sweep the season series with the rival Beavers. The wins in the final week moved the Bulldogs two games above .500, quite a successful season for the new freshman class of ballplayers under Coach Deal.

The Varsity playoffs began with a home matchup against the Rainier Beach Vikings on Thursday, May 5th. Senior Aidin Montefisher got the ball for the Bulldogs. The team scored 21 runs in the bottom of the 1st inning and cleared the bench in the middle of the 2nd inning. The final score ended up being 42-0 with twenty-two Garfield players getting some game action, including all the JV postseason call-ups.

The Roosevelt Roughriders awaited the Bulldogs at Chief Sealth for the next round of the conference tournament, this game also being a loser-out game. Senior southpaw Aidan Miller got the start and was very efficient, throwing just 41 pitches through the first 4 innings. Garfield scored a run in the top of the 2nd inning on a single by Spencer Mann, who advanced to 2nd base on a groundout and scored on a double that nicked off the glove of the 3rd baseman down the left field line. The Riders got to Miller in the bottom of the 5th inning, scoring three runs with 2 outs to take a 3-1 lead. The Bulldogs lined into a double play in the top of the 6th, got the leadoff hitter on base and sent the tying run to the plate in the top of the 7th inning, but were unable to come back from the 3-1 deficit. Roosevelt would advance to play the Blanchet Braves the next day at Steve Cox Field.

Varsity: 11-11 overall, 9-9 in conference, 1-1 in playoffs

JV: 11-9 overall, 10-8 in conference

C-Team: 11-9 overall, 8-3 in conference

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2016 Week 9 Recap

Senior Day was Monday, April 25th. The Bulldogs celebrated the careers of six seniors (Eli Wilson, Caleb Stocker, Aidin Montefisher, Aidan Miller, Spencer Mann & Mikio Habu) and their parents before the final home game of the regular season. The Roosevelt Roughriders, tied for 1st place overall in the conference, drew first blood, scoring three runs in the top of the 3rd inning. The starting pitcher was sharp for 6 innings, with the Bulldogs unable to get more than a single baserunner in any inning until the 7th when they put pressure on the Roosevelt bullpen. Wilson started the rally with a triple to leadoff the final inning. Garfield plated a couple runs and had the tying run in scoring position before a second Roughrider reliever recorded the final out for a 4-2 loss for the Bulldogs. The loss, along with wins by Bainbridge and West Seattle, dropped Garfield from 1st place to 3rd place.

The C-Team defeated Ballard 12-2 at Loyal Heights on Monday to pull to within a single game of .500.

JV lost their game at Roosevelt in extra innings, 7-6. Garfield couldn’t hang on to a 5-0 lead. Roosevelt took a 6-5 lead into the 6th, but the Bulldogs were able to tie it and then send it to the 8th inning. The walkoff win for the Roughriders came off a fly ball just beyond the reach of the Bulldogs outfielder in pursuit. Tim Arnold had a triple, Ben Wong and Luke Levasseur both had doubles to lead the Garfield bats.

The Varsity’s second game of the week (Wednesday, April 27th) was against the other team tied for 1st place in the overall league standings, the Lakeside Lions. The Bulldogs needed a victory to have a shot at winning the Mountain division. A Lions win on their Senior Day would clinch a Coast division title for them. Garfield scored a run in the top of the 4th inning off a Kepler Swanson RBI single and another in the top of the 5th inning off a Klaus Bachhuber RBI single. Alex Gregory had a great outing on the mound, allowing a run in the bottom of the 5th inning. The Lions got lucky with a hard-hit grounder that looked like it could be a double play ball bouncing off the umpire behind the pitchers mound for a base hit. With that play, the momentum changed and Lakeside was able to score a couple more on a single off closer Jack Alden to take a 3-2 lead, which they would hold on to for the victory. The loss cemented the Bulldogs placed in the division standings at 3rd, meaning they would play their first playoff game on Thursday, May 5th.

JV also lost to Lakeside that afternoon 6-5, after allowing five runs in the top of the 1st inning. Nelson Huffaker, Willie Vogel, and Aaron Kern each had a pair of singles to lead the offense, with Kern knocking in a couple runs.

The C-Team didn’t fare so well against O’Dea at Judkins on Thursday, April 28th, losing 9-2. The teams are scheduled to meet again in the final week of the season at Garfield. Needing a pair of victories to get up to .500, the C-Team swept a doubleheader at Kennedy on Saturday, April 30th. The morning game was a close 8-4 victory, but the afternoon rematch was decisive with Garfield winning 11-0 in 5 innings.

On Saturday, April 30th, Garfield was scheduled to play defending 2A state champion Centralia in the most anticipated game of the season. The Bulldogs and Tigers got to square off at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma. The offense got started early scoring a three quick runs in the top of the 1st inning. Garfield would score in five of the seven innings that afternoon to record a 9-0 win. The Bulldogs pitching by committee (Aidin Montefisher, Aidan Miller, Zubin Kopischke, J’Raan Brooks, Jack Alden) was great with the team allowing only two hits and zero walks. All 16 Varsity players got to share in the team’s success, with everyone getting playing time. Eli Wilson hit a double and triple, Owen Cobb had three hits and four runs batted in, Alex Gregory had a pair of singles to snap a slump, and Kepler Swanson added a couple hits at the top of the lineup.

Varsity: 10-10 overall, 9-9 in conference

JV: 10-9 overall, 9-8 in conference

C-Team: 9-9 overall, 6-3 in conference

 

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