Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Bulldogs stay close early - #lakewoodnews

Arvada took a one-run lead in the third inning, but Littleton had a big fifth inning and won the May 2 league baseball game, 14-5.

Littleton hit the ball and took advantage of miscues to score a pair of runs in the first inning of a game that was moved to the Lions' home diamond because of field conditions at Arvada.

The Bulldogs loaded the bases in the home half of the third inning, scoring three runs, including two on a double by Chris Smith.

Arvada played well, but the Lions tied the score in the top of the fourth and then collected five hits and pushed six runs across the plate in the top of the fifth inning to secure the Littleton win.

"I am proud of our kids. It has been a long journey to do all the things like getting good grades and being good citizens," Bulldog coach Gino Carbajal said after the game. "We are making progress. We spent yesterday at Jefferson Unified Schools working with kids who are not as blessed as we are. We worked with those kids at that school, teaching the unified students how to play and helping play the game of baseball."

Chris Smith had a pair of hits for the Bulldogs that included a bases-loaded double that drove in a pair of runs while Dominic Moon had one hit, a double. Junior Jaden Mortimer had 2 RBIs, one on a sacrifice fly and one on a fielder's choice.

Jayson Peterson, a sophomore, pitched five innings, gave up 12 hits, four earned runs and struck out three. Jaden Martinez pitched the last two innings, gave up five hits, four earned runs and struck out two.

This is the third year coach Carbajal has directed the Bulldogs.

"The juniors have been with me for three years and they have come a long way," he said. "It took a while for the new coach to get to know the kids and the kids to get to know the new coach. But they adapted and seek the self-discipline and accountability guidelines."

He said he had 40 kids out for baseball, the most at Arvada in a long time. The coach also said the Bulldogs are a young team with four seniors on the roster and the remainder of the varsity and junior varsity are primarily freshmen and sophomores, which should mean a good future for the team.

Bulldog third baseman Austin Collister made two defensive plays that helped stifle Littleton scoring efforts.

"I catch sometimes, but third base is my favorite position," the senior said after the game. "I grew up playing third base and third base is my home on the diamond."

He plays football and baseball but baseball is where his heart is.

"I love baseball because of its challenges. Making the plays is part of it, but baseball also is a mental game about knowing what to do next," he said. "I do OK with the bat, but I feel my most important contribution to our team is my defensive play."

The Bulldog record was 6-10 overall and 1-6 in league after the May 2 loss to Littleton. The weather has condensed the schedule so Arvada was scheduled to play three games in four days, closing out the regular season May 7 at home against Classic Academy.



from Lakewood Sentinel - Latest Stories http://lakewoodsentinel.comhttp://arvadapress.com/stories/Bulldogs-stay-close-early,213258?branding=15

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