FAYETTEVILLE—To borrow a line from a classic baseball movie, the Thorn-dale Bulldogs announced their presence with authority. The No. 1 ranked Bulldogs easily disposed of Ganado 11-0, 17-0 in a sweep in the Class 2A, Region IV bi-district round of the state baseball playoffs at picturesque SPJST Park Friday night.
The Bulldogs now move on to face Iola in the area round in a three-game series, with the first game scheduled for Thursday at 7 p.m. in Franklin. The second game is set for Saturday at 1 p.m. with the third game to follow if necessary.
“We are starting to hit the ball well again,” said Thorndale Coach Kelly Kuhl. “However, the thing that I am excited about is giving up zero runs in the series.
“We are going to hang our hat on pitching and defense because if they don’t score they can’t win. That is our motto—ITDST-CW.”
Senior righthander Cole-by Driver (8-0) was near perfection in the clincher, allowing just two harmless hits and striking out six of the 17 batters he faced, including four straight to end the game which lasted just five run-ruled innings. He did not walk a single batter.
Thorndale banged out 11 hits, led by Scott Guzman, Trey Ortiz and Corey Huber with two hits apiece. Guzman knocked in three runs on the strength of a two-run double in the Bulldogs’ seven-run second.
In that powder keg second, Thorndale only had a couple of hits from Ortiz (2-RBI double) and Ashton Albert (RBI single), but were able to take advantage of four walks issued by Ganado pitcher Ryan Williams and three costly errors behind him. Ganado (5-14-1) committed five errors on the evening.
The Bulldogs sent 13 batters to the plate and batted for 26 minutes.
After Driver needed just six pitches to retire Ganado in the top of the third, Thorndale was at it again, producing six more runs for a commanding 13-0 lead after three.
Logan Fisher had the big blow in the inning with a two-run single and Huber also had a run-scoring single.
The Bulldogs tacked on four more runs in the fourth on an RBI double from Mason Fisher and another RBI single by Huber.
Logan Fisher threw a gem on Thursday in the 11-0 victory.
Thorndale secured the victory thanks to seven runs in the fourth inning with contributions from Huber, Lane Niemtschk, Guzman, Driver, Albert, and Ashton Schaefer, who each had RBIs in the inning.
The outburst was driven by sacrifice flies by Driver and Schaefer, a walk by Niemtschk, a single by Guzman, by Huber, a groundout by Mason Fisher, and an error on a ball put in play by Albert.
Fisher lasted five innings, allowing two hits and zero runs while striking out seven and walking zero.
Thorndale collected seven hits on the day. Guzman and Ty Kovar all managed multiple hits, as Guzman produced three hits in three at bats.
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