Bulldog Baseball Wins 2 & Loses 1

El Dorado Springs High School went 2-1 this past week in the Purdy Tournament beating Purdy 12-10 and East Newton 7-6 on Monday, March 22, and losing to Hartville 9-2 in the Championship on Friday, March 22.

Against Purdy, senior Trevyn Garringer started the game and threw 3 1/3 innings before being pulled because of coach-appointed pitch count restrictions. He gave up 4 runs, 2 hits and had 4 strikeouts. Logan Spencer and Preston Robison, both seniors, pitched a combined 1 2/3 innings before the game was turned over to senior Gaven Morgan who pitched the final two innings to earn the win, surrendering no runs, no hits, and recording one strikeout.

The Bulldogs had a strong hitting attack led by Garringer, senior Ian Esry, Morgan, and senior Trey Graves. Garringer was 3-4 with a double, a walk, and 4 runs scored. Esry was 4 for 5 with five runs batted in, a double, and three runs scored. Morgan was 2-4 with a double, a walk, 2 RBI, and a run scored. Graves had a 2-run home run while scoring 2 runs, had 2 walks, and 3 stolen bases. The Bulldogs broke a 10-10 tie in the top of the seven when they scored two runs on three straight hits by Garringer, Esry, and Morgan. Payton Green added a hit as well for the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs played East Newton in the semifinal round of the Purdy Tournament, winning 7-6. Dalton Adams, a senior, started the game and threw 4 innings, struck out eight Patriot hitters, and surrendered three runs on one hit. Preston Robison threw the final inning in a rain-shortened game to earn the save.

The hitters for the Bulldogs took a few innings to get started, but opened their scoring in the top of the third down 1-0. Garringer and Esry started the inning off with back to back singles before Gaven Morgan brought both of them home on a home run to make the score 3-1. The Bulldogs added four more runs in the 4th inning as Clayton Collins, Garringer, Esry, Morgan, and Robison all had hits, while Graves added a walk during the inning.

East Newton tried to mount a comeback but fell short when Robison recorded the last out in a rain shortened game. Garringer was 3-3 with a walk and 2 runs scored, Esry was 2-4 with a RBI and 2 runs scored, Morgan was 2-4 with a HR, 4 RBI, and 2 runs scored, Robison was 2-2 with 2 RBI and a walk, Collins was 1-3 with a run scored.

On Friday, the Bulldogs played Hartville for the Purdy Championship in Joplin due to wet field conditions at Purdy. Gaven Morgan started the game on the mound for the Bulldogs. He only lasted into the 2nd inning before he was pulled for precautionary reasons and Trev Garringer took his place on mound and with the Bulldogs down 4-0, kept them in the game for the rest of the game.

The Bulldogs had opportunities to cut into the Eagles’ lead, but overall left 11 runners on base, including the bases loaded in the 6th inning when the score was 5-1. After a couple of miscues defensively, the Bulldogs went into the 7th inning down 9-1 and pushed one run across in the top of the 7th to finish the game in a 9-2 loss.

Garringer was 2-4 with a run scored, Esry was 2-4 with a double and a run scored. Morgan was 2-2 with a walk, 2 RBI and was hit by a pitch. Graves was 1-3 with a double and walk. Preston Robison and Payton Green added a hit each.

The Bulldogs will return to action on Thursday, April 1st in Bolivar and play a doubleheader on Friday, April 2nd with Walnut Grove and Liberal starting at 2 p.m.