14U travel baseball team post 11-1-1 record
GILROY – The Silicon Valley Bulldogs, a 14-under travel baseball team comprised exclusively of players from Morgan Hill and Gilroy, participated in three tournaments in their “Winter Training” schedule.
The Bulldogs took two titles, and were seeded second in the third tournament, which eventually was cancelled due to poor weather conditions.
In the CABA Kick-Off Classic, held in early February at PAL Stadium and Oak Grove High School, the Bulldogs earned the top seed in their pool with two decisive wins on the opening night.
Kevin Grove, Adam Perez, and Billy Hill combined for seven hits in a 10-0 win over the Silicon Valley Rivercats from Almaden Valley in San Jose. Perez was masterful on the mound, notching six strikeouts over three innings, and Grove struck out the side in the last inning.
In their second contest, the Bulldogs defeated the Starmaker Bucks 9-5 behind the pitching of Jacob Dexter, Matt Cummins and Jonathan Hughes.
In a third pool game, Grove blasted a long home run over the left-centerfield fence at Oak Grove, but the Bulldogs let a large lead slip away, and tied the Ballz Out squad, 18-18. Ryan Evanger went 3-for-4 to lead the Bulldogs’ offense.
In the semi-final game, the Bulldogs defeated the Starmaker Titans 7-1, as Phillip Thrappas had two hits, including a triple to lead the offense. Grove and Hughes combined to hold the Titans offense to six hits.
In the championship game against the Pleasanton Black Sox, the Bulldogs exploded for seven runs in the fifth inning and won behind the complete-game, six-strikeout pitching performance from Dexter. Michael Durham posted the game-winning RBI in the decisive fifth inning.
Traveling to Davis over President’s Weekend, the Bulldogs stumbled in their opening game, losing 4-0 to the Starmaker Titans, despite the brilliant pitching performance from Kevin Saign. Saign posted seven strikeouts over five innings, but the Bulldogs were limited to three hits, two by Perez.
The Bulldogs responded in their second game, defeating the Elk Grove Dirtbags 11-3 behind the pitching and hitting of Cummins. Danny Nelson and
