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March 16, 2010

Bulldogs spank Panthers, 10-0

Cody Pastorella The Port Arthur News

NEDERLAND — NEDERLAND — The Nederland Bulldogs made quick work of the Ozen Panthers in Tuesday night's District 20-4A baseball opener, shutting down the visitors 10-0 in five innings.

   With the win, the Dogs moved their overall record to 9-5 for the season, which continues Friday when they travel to Port Neches where they will square off with the PN-G Indians.

   Up 9-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, the Bulldogs loaded the bases with a lead-off walk from Jackson Broussard, a single from Trevin Sonnier and then Ozen intentionally walked Stephen Schlett, who had two walks and went 1-for-2 with a RBI-triple that came in the second inning. He also scored two runs, including the game's decisive run which was scored in the first inning.

   After loading the bases, Brett Brown drew a four-pitch walk to force in Broussard to complete the 10-run rule.

   In the first frame, Schlett scored on a two-out error put into play by Nick Cardenas, who also touched all four bases in the inning after a two-run dinger from Cody Laird.

   Laird was the winning pitcher as well. Despite a rough start to the first inning which included three walks, the senior southpaw did not allow a hit and struck out seven straight to finish three innings of work.

   Trent Fontenot came on in relief for the final two innings. He recorded one strike out and allowed Ozen's only hit, which also happened to be the Panthers' last batter because Mikel Collestain was thrown out from left field by Carson Raines to end the top half of the fifth.

   Nederland boss Cody Robbins called Tuesday's win a great start for the district's defending champions.

   "I thought that was a great way to start district. I think we started hitting the ball really well over the weekend and that rolled over here tonight, you know. I thought we hit the ball hard, executed some hit-and-runs and played pretty good defense considering the (weather) conditions."

   Robbins added that Laird settled in after the first inning and completely dominated the Panthers by striking out the side in order in both the second and third frames. In total, he struck out seven of the 10 batters he faced.

   "He did a great job," Robbins said." He struck out the last guy in the first inning. Then he hit that homer and I think that got him settled in. But it's like I told the kids, this is just one game. We have a big one on Friday with Port Neches so we can't be too excited about this win. We need to feel good about it but it's time to get ready for Friday."

   Also for Nederland, Kirby Bellow went 2-for-2 with a walk, a run and drove in Schlett with a double in the second inning that gave his side a 4-0 advantage.

   The Dogs tallied nine hits as a team and scored runs in each inning, including three in the first, two in the second, three in the third, one in the fourth and one in the fifth.

   Taylor Williams was 1-for-3 with two runs and had a RBI single in the third. Jacob Pitts went 1-for-1 with a pair of walks and scored a run in the first run in the third inning off a double from Tyler Smith.

   And short stop Trevin Sonnier was 2-for-4 and brought in Williams with a single in the third inning. Bellow, who is the expected starter for the matchup with PN-G, scored his run on a past ball in the fourth column.

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