Bulldogs blow by Skyline

Leck, a burly 6-foot-3, 230-pound designated hitter, delivered the dagger in the bottom of the seventh inning, belting a grand slam to make it 13-5. Even more impressively, Leck's monster game came on the heels of one of his worst -- he struck out four times in CSM's win over Hartnell on Sunday.

"Of course your confidence goes down after a game like that but you still have to think you're good," Leck said. "I try to stay as calm as I can and not get too high or low."

Wednesday's Coast Conference North Division game featured a number of emotional highs and lows, trash-talking, staredowns and, oh yeah, solid baseball. Skyline experienced both ends of the emotional spectrum, but in the end, lost to CSM (9-3 Coast North, 18-9 overall) for the seventh time in the team's last nine meetings. Early on, the Trojans (7-5, 16-13) had CSM right where they wanted them: A 5-1 lead and ace Scott Sobczak on the mound.

The Bulldogs, however, showed why they're the four-time defending Coast Conference North Division champions. CSM dug deep, then exploded to the victory to take a pivotal two-game lead over its rivals in the division standings. Unlike its 6-4 win over Skyline on March 7, CSM had to climb back from an early deficit against the San Jose State-bound Sobczak, who is Skyline's ace and one of the best pitchers in the Coast Conference.

Trailing 5-1 heading into the bottom of the third inning, the Bulldogs scored single runs in the third and fifth before erupting for five runs each in the sixth and seventh innings to win going away. Shane Arslan singled with one out in the home half of the sixth before Doug Hansen walked. What happened next drew the ire of the Skyline team while providing CSM with further momentum.

Sobczak delivered a 3-2 pitch to Tyler Heil that looked straight down Broadway, but the home plate umpire didn't see it that way. That loaded the bases for Cody Himes (three hits, three RBIs), who promptly hit a two-run single to make it 5-5. Two batters later, Darren Gemoll's infield single loaded the bases again. Leck followed with a two-run single, chasing Sobczak, who ended up tossing 5 2/3 innings and allowing seven earned runs, seven hits and six walks while throwing 133 pitches.

Matt Van Orden welcomed reliever Carlos Alvarenga by drilling an RBI single to center field to cap the Bulldogs' uprising. Leck delivered the hammer in the seventh, belting a grand slam to right center field to make it 13-5. Once again, Bulldogs ace Kyle Woodruff was gutsy in the win. Battling the flu, Woodruff pitched eight solid innings, allowing six hits, six earned runs and five walks to improve to a perfect 7-0. He had one rough stretch in the third, allowing five runs on four hits. Matt Andreoli had a two-run single and Jarrod Esquibel an RBI triple.

But Woodruff settled down, retiring 11 consecutive batters. Though he didn't have his A-grade stuff, Woodruff impressed onlookers with his will to win. When Skyline had the bases loaded with one out in the seventh, Woodruff induced a 6-4-3 double play to get out of the jam. He promptly ran back to the dugout, shouting the entire way. Any pitcher can win when it's on, but the true measure of greatness is the ability to win when you're off. CSM manager Doug Williams has seen Woodruff do it time and again.

"Kyle is sicker than a dog, he's hacking, but he reaches down and battles well," Williams said. "Earlier in the year, I don't know if we get this win. The guys are showing confidence when they're down, and they're starting to believe they can win given any situation. We've had teams in the past with that killer instinct, and I'm seeing it slowly develop with this team now."<