Ryan Bauman comes through at the plate, on the hill for Bristol
LOWER MORELAND — As they say, better late than never.
Bristol got its bats going Wednesday afternoon, May 13 at Lower Moreland, stroking 11 hits and drawing nine walks in outpacing Bicentennial Athletic League (BAL) rival Lower Moreland for the second time this season.
The last time the Warriors took on the Lions in the Borough, Bristol needed six runs in the home seventh just to send the duel to extras before winning the battle 12-10 in nine innings.
Not this time.
The Warriors led from start to finish in a 12-5 triumph, plating four runs in the visitor’s third on an RBI double by first baseman Mike Heller and a two-run home run by outfielder Danny Padilla. Another run crossed the plate on a wild pitch.
Lower Moreland answered in the home half of the inning, plating three runs of its own on just two singles and a walk. A pair of errors by Bristol — one that turned a single by Lions first baseman Pat Furphy into a double and a mistake at second base that would have ended the inning and instead allowed a run to score — didn’t help the Warriors’ cause.
While Bristol left a pair of runners stranded in the fourth and left the sacks jammed in the top of the fifth, a double by Furphy in the home fifth drew the sides even at four runs apiece.
On the hill, lefthander Ryan Bauman had a four-hitter going, allowing a lone earned run through six innings. With the bat, the senior lefty helped himself, stroking a bases-clearing double with the sacks jammed to deep right-center field in the top of the fifth that put the Warriors on top to stay.
Padilla drove in his third run of the afternoon with an RBI double to right-center and after walks drawn by catcher Steven Boggi and Mike Cain, Bristol went up 9-4 on an error made on a ball slapped to short by Xavier Corbin.
The Warriors padded their lead with three more runs in the visitors’ seventh, plating a pair with the sacks jammed on wild pitches and another on Cain’s RBI single.For his part, Bauman pitched a complete game for the win with seven strikeouts, went 1-for-3 with three RBIs and a pair of runs scored. Padilla hit 2-for-4 with a double, a home run, two runs scored and three RBIs.
Third baseman Kyle Slivka-Fralin hit 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored. Heller had a double, an RBI and a pair of runs scored. Boggi, who only recently rejoined the team after being out with an injury, went 1-for-2 with a double and a run scored.
Cain went 1-for-3 with an RBI and a pair of walks.
For the Lions, third baseman Dicky Rhoads hit a pair of singles, Furphy hit a two-run single and an RBI double. Outfielder Lou Goodman also stroked a double.
The win finishes the Warriors’ regular season out at 7-9 overall, 7-7 in the BAL. For its trouble, Bristol advances to the District 1 Class AA semifinals versus top seed Devon Prep. The duel is set for 4 p.m. Friday, May 22 at a neutral site that is to be determined. The victor faces the winner of No. 2 seed New Hope-Solebury vs. No. 3 Springfield (MontCo) on Tuesday, May 26.
Devon finished tied with Holy Ghost Prep in the BAL Independence Division standings. Both teams finished 12-1 with each inflicting the lone loss on the other. The Tide outpaced the Firebirds 8-6 in an April matchup on the Main Line but Ghost answered with a 7-6 win May 11 in Bensalem.
