To say Bradford’s offense was rolling against Johnsonburg on Saturday would be an injustice.
The Owls collected 25 hits en route to a doubleheader sweep of the Rams — 6-5 and 16-3 at the Kessel Athletic Complex, upping their record to 6-1.
The top five hitters in the lineup — Andrew Bacha, Garrett Babcock, Sawyer Packard, Connor Vecellio and Ryan Boyer went a combined 20-for-33 with 11 RBIs and 16 runs scored in the two games.
“I like where we’re at right now,” said Bradford coach Brian Fox. “We’re 6-1, we’re hitting the baseball and our pitching has been good.”
The two games really couldn’t have been more different — other than the Owls’ offense.
They scored two runs in the first, second and fourth innings to take a 6-3 lead in game one.
The two first-inning runs came off an error and a double steal, while Packard notched an RBI single and Vecellio a sac fly in the second.
Boyer’s two-run double in the fourth made it 6-3, which proved to be enough for Bacha on the mound.
The five runs Johnsonburg scored didn’t indicate how well the junior right-hander pitched.
He struck out 11 and allowed just five hits, attacking hitters with his breaking ball.
“I thought Andrew pitched a great game,” Fox said. “Everything was working. His breaking ball was phenomenal. He was challenging them with his breaking ball — that was his best pitch today.”
The Rams scored once in the first after an error and twice in the third after a walk and hit-by-pitch on an RBI single by Austin Amacher and a suicide squeeze from Ben Ames.
The Rams’ two fifth-inning runs to make it 6-5 were a bit unlucky for Bacha, as he was called for a balk with two outs to move Roselli and MacDonald, who both singled, to second and third.
He then uncorked a wild pitch, brining in both runners as the ball skipped into the Johnsonburg dugout on Packard’s attempt to get Roselli at the plate and into a batting helmet.
Bacha recovered, however, striking out the side in the sixth and whiffing the first two batters in the seventh.
With two outs in the seventh, Roselli ripped a double that skipped off the glove of rightfielder Bryce Skaggs on a diving attempt.
That brought up MacDonald with a base open and the tying run on second.
Fox elected to intentionally walk the St. Bonaventure commit and it paid off, as Bacha induced a weak roller to short off the bat of Amacher to end the game.
“With the tying run on second and an open base, that’s a no-brainer for me to walk MacDonald,” Fox said. “Hindsight is always 20-20, but we were able to get the next guy out. It was a well-played game.”
Game two, on the other hand, was all Bradford.
The Owls scored three in the first on an RBI single by Boyer and a two-run single by Dan Manion and then erupted in the second.
They sent 15 men to the plate in a 10-run inning, taking a commanding 13-0 lead.
Packard led the way, with a pair of two-run singles in the frame, part of a 4-for-4 effort.
Boyer pitched three relatively stress free innings, giving way to Packard for the final two.
“Ryan was on his game today and really didn’t give them a chance to get back in the game,” noted Fox.
The offense, however, was the story.
The hit breakdown in the two games went like this: Packard 5, Bacha 4, Babcock 4, Boyer 4 and Vecellio 3.
“Our bats still had some smoke coming off them,” Fox said. “We got on them early and were hitting balls hard and hitting them into the alley.”
The Owls will look to keep the good vibes going in the coming week, as they are scheduled to play four games in five days, starting with Punxsutawney on Monday.
The Chucks will provide a stiff challenge, as they are 10-0, outscoring their opponents 106-27 in the process. They also feature a pair of Division I prospects — senior catcher Ryan Sloniger (Penn State) and junior SS/RHP John Matthews (Kent State).
“Now we’re going to see how deep our pitching really is,” Fox said. “We have games Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. But all these other teams are going to be playing four, five, six games in a week too.”
