A huge grand slam by Cody Polson was the spark the Riverside Bulldogs needed to help them clinch their double header Tuesday night over New Site n the first round of the MHSAA Class 2A playoffs. The Bulldogs won the first game Tuesday 9-7 and their second game of the doubleheader 8-7.
After falling to New Site 11-1 on Saturday, Riverside won the best-of-three series two games to one.
The Bulldogs will face Water Valley in the second round of the playoffs. Game one is Friday at Riverside at 5:30. Game two is Saturday at Water Valley. Game three, if necessary will be at Riverside at 5:30.
In game one of Tuesday, the Bulldogs got a grand slam by Polson with the bases loaded to put them up 6-4 in the bottom of second. This elite play by Polson shifted the momentum in favor of the Bulldogs. “Obviously this was the turn of the game with the grand slam play. It energized our players and our fans, as Coach Boo Ellis described the shifting moment.
Early in the game, the Bulldogs made a triple defensive play against New Site as they struck out a batter and then completed outs on bases. New Site led the Bulldogs 4-1 in the bottom on the seconf inning. A home run by the Bulldogs awarded them a run they needed to stay in the game forcing New Site to call a timeout to regroup. The Bulldogs score once more to go up 1 run. After the fifth innings the Bulldogs scratched for a total of two more runs. The Bulldogs outlasted New Site in the first game with a score of 9-7. Ellis goes on to say that “we did a great job of scoring guys when we had our chances. I also think Braxton Toten, our second pitcher in the first game, did a great job holding New Site down by two runs.”
Game two of the double header was a back and forth battle for seven innings. Ellis tips his hat to New Site as he acknowledges their hard work in the competition. “I thought both teams did an outstanding job of competing and not giving up,” Ellis said. “Our pitchers Abraham Ramirez, Alex Musgrove, Lucas Sims, and Toten did a terrific job of limiting New Site when they had chances to score against us. Coming back like we did to win two games is a tremendous boost to our confidence going into the 2nd round of playoffs. We are still going to have to play good baseball. The one thing we need to work on for us to advance pass the 2nd round is defense.
