Bulldogs close season with win

Published 8:59 pm Saturday, May 12, 2012

King’s Fork High School’s Nick Ramos sprints to first base after getting a hit against Lakeland High School in a cross-town matchup to close the regular season on Friday afternoon. The Bulldogs won the game 10-3.

By Tray Mason
Correspondent

In a season that had very few ups and a lot of downs, the King’s Fork High School baseball team (2-18) ended the season on a positive note.

The Bulldogs spoiled city rival Lakeland High School’s Senior Day on Friday, beating the Cavaliers 10-3.

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The Bulldogs lost their Senior Day game on Tuesday 5-4 to Indian River, so head coach Pat Stafford told his team to use the game as their own Senior Day.

“We got knocked off our Senior Day in a close ball game,” said Stafford, “so I told the guys let’s use this as another chance to have a good last game.”

The team responded with one of its best offensive efforts this season.

Kendrick Lee went 4-for-5 with five RBIs. He essentially iced the game for the Bulldogs early when he hit a bases-loaded triple to the left field wall, which gave KF a 7-0 lead in the fourth inning.

Lee had hit an RBI double in the first inning that put KF up 2-0.

Marcus Welsh commanded the pitcher’s mound well for the Bulldogs; he pitched a complete game with five strikeouts.

The win is a great way for the Bulldogs to end a season in which they lost a majority of their games.

Although the team graduates five seniors, Stafford is optimistic that next season will be more successful.

He notes that a good core group of young players return to the squad next year, and he will have a full off-season to work with the team.

Stafford was named head coach in January.

“Because I wasn’t here in November and December we got off to a slow start and it was tough,” he said. “Now that I’ll be here a full year, we look to improve tremendously.”