There’s nothing like a little friendly competition to rev up excitement. In what many considered the showdown of the year the Baldwin 10U purple and gray teams would battle for the third and, possibly, final time in the regular season. Coming into today’s game the teams had both earned a win against the other team earlier in the season. So most expected an exciting and tight game. The players wouldn’t disappoint with a hard fought game with highlights all over the field.

The purple team sent Ryan to the hill to start the game and the gray squad loaded the bases Luke D reached on a grounder to first, Cooper followed with a grounder where the gray team got the lead runner. Joey and Anthony walked to load the bases. However, Ryan calmly struck out the final two batters he faced. The gray team sent Mikey to the mound to start the game and he didn’t want to be outdone so he made quick work getting a ground out and strike out to end the first inning in a 0-0 tie.

In the second inning the gray team would strike for the first run of the game. A leadoff walk earned by Mikey quickly turned to Mikey standing on third base thanks to two stolen bases. Then with two outs Cody drew a walk and “Big Game” James came through with an RBI single. A walk to Evan had Coach Stanziano call the pen where he brought in flame thrower Luke T. Luke T quickly induced an inning ending ground out to short.

The purple team roared back in their half of the inning taking a 5-1 lead. The inning started with a trip-trip-triple by Dylan. Ryan and Nathan then singled followed by walks to Mikey, Tyler and Richard. The walks earned by Tyler and Richard gave the purple team a 2-1 lead. The big blow of the inning was a three run double off the bat of Gavin G.

Luke T took the mound in the third and quickly struck out all three batters he faced. Coaches said “When Luke is on he’s incredibly hard to hit. He was on today!”

Cody would take the mound for the gray team in the third. A leadoff single by Devin was followed by a double by Luke T. That was followed by a RBI single by Dylan. However, Landon made a fine catch of a hot shot line drive off the bat of Ryan. A walk to Nathan loaded the bases. That set the stage for a heads up double play by first baseman Luke D. Mikey popped up to first where Luke made the catch and raced to first to beat the base runner back. The score was now 6-1 after three innings.

The purple team brought their gloves for the fourth inning. A leadoff double by Landon was followed by some defensive wizardry. Lucas moved Landon to third with a productive at bat when he grounded to first. With one out a fine play at short by “Big Red” Nathan robbed Mikey of extra bases as Nathan snagged the rocket and threw out Mikey. However, that was also a productive at bad as Landon scored on that ground out. Tony made Luke work hard in his at bat but struck out in a duel. The inning ended with purple up 6-2.

Cody made quick work in the bottom of the fourth when he struck out the side. Coaches said “Cody looked really good on the mound today. He threw strikes and trusted his defense but he also was able to handle things himself with his three strike out inning.”

Going into the fifth, and up by a score of 6-2, Dylan took the mound. The gray team sent Gavin M to the plate. He battled his way to a 3-2 pitch when he struck out swinging in a solid showdown. Cody and James followed with singles. After Evan was hit by a pitch the bases were loaded. Luke D promptly ripped a shot to right and showcased his speed by racing around the bases for a grand slam to the delight of his teammates. Teammates mobbed Luke D as he worked his way back the dugout celebrating the new game as the score was tied at 6. Cooper looked to keep the offensive outburst going and earned a walk. Dylan then induced a ground out to second and a nice catch at first ended the inning.

Luke D took the mound in the fifth. A leadoff walk by Gavin G was followed by a single by Devin. Dylan brought home Gavin with a RBI single giving purple a 7-6 lead. Luke kept his cool and struck out a batter and induced an inning ending ground out to give his team a solid chance in the sixth inning.

Dylan took the mound for the top of the sixth looking to seal the win. He did so facing a minimum of three batters. A ground out to first was followed by a strike out and then a pop out to Dylan ending the game.

Purple had earned themselves a very hard fought 7-6 win. If this was the last meeting between the two teams in the regular season purple took the series with two wins to gray’s one. However, both coaches agreed that each team played a solid game. Coaches agreed and said “Both teams played their hearts out. There were great pitching performances, spectacular plays in the field, some clutch hitting and exciting moments for both squads!”

Just like there’s nothing like friendly competition to rev up the excitement there’s nothing like watching both Baldwin 10u teams playing well and earning the respect of their opponents all season long. It’s a great time to be a Bulldog and fans and coaches alike expect more exciting games between the Baldwin squads and neighboring associations to finish up the regular season!