Solid Bullpen, Aggressive Baserunning Lead Gibbons To Win

Cardinal Gibbons got four shutout innings from its bullpen and stole seven bases in a 6-2 win over Pompano Beach on Wednesday.

Gibbons got on the board in the first with a little small ball. Tyler Norris led off with a walk, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Ryan Bowman, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a safety squeeze from clean-up hitter Thomas Woodrey.

“This year, with the new bats, it’s something we are going to have to do,” Gibbons coach Frank Pisani said of the need to play small ball. “It’s going to be hard to drive the ball out of the park, so we are going to have to manufacture runs.”

Pompano answered back with one of its own in the bottom of the first. Nick Delgado singled to center and stole second, and was followed by Kenney Harrel, who singled to advance him to third. Delgado came in to score on a 6-4 fielder’s choice.

Dalton Jugovic led off the top of the second with a double to left center. After back-to-back strikeouts, he scored on a dropped fly ball by the Pompano center fielder.

Again Pompano struck back with one of their own in the bottom of the second to tie it at 2. Keenan Holliday walked to lead off the inning and stole second. Anthony Blake hit an RBI single with one out to score Holliday, but that would be all the offense Pompano was able to manage.

Shane Sibley led off the top of the third with a single and moved around the bases with some aggressive baserunning. He stole second, advanced to third on a ball in the dirt and scored on a strikeout in the dirt, breaking for home once the catcher threw to first.

Sibley wreaked more havoc on the bases in the fifth after a leadoff single. He stole second and third before scoring on a passed ball.

“That’s something we like to do and that we work on,” said Pisani of his team’s baserunning. “Stealing third is one of my favorite things to do.”

Gibbons added a couple of insurance runs in the sixth with four more stolen bases. Norris had a pinch-hitter in his place, but he re-entered to run the bases after Stephen Thomas walked. Norris stole second, third and home on a double steal with Ryan Bowman. Bowman scored on a RBI single from Sibley for the final run of the game.

On the mound for Gibbons, Woodrey went two innings, giving up two runs while striking out two. The bullpen combined for four innings of shutout ball without allowing a hit.

“My young kids came in there and were able to shut them down,” Pisani said. “If there’s one thing we have, it is pitching depth, and as long as we play solid defense, we will be in every game.”

For Pompano, Tyler Keller started and went three innings, striking out six. Caleb Campbell worked two innings, striking out four. Brian Dolan pitched the last inning, allowing a pair of runs on a couple walks and no hits.

The game was called after six innings because of the time limit.

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