In our eighth game of the season, the Hillside squad found themselves on the road against a worthy adversary, Avon Old Farms. Avon, a school with rich athletic tradition, was a strong team that, to date, had only lost one game and boasted a 9-1 record. These facts didn’t slow down the Bulldog bats, however.

In typical fashion, the Bulldogs came out swinging and although we were able to load the bases in the top of the first inning, we only managed to score one run. Later, and in the bottom of the third and down 2-1, the floodgates opened up and Avon crossed the plate five times taking the lead 6-2. At this juncture in the game, things could have easily taken a turn for the worse. What Avon didn’t know, however, was that the Bulldogs were full of fight and between the fourth and fifth innings, Hillside would score seven runs and they would never look back. Runs were scored by Noah Strawn ’14, Matt Gray ’14, Luke Benoit ’13 and Jack Harlan ’12, all of whom reached by base hits or via the walk. Additionally, Sam Pirozzi ’12, had a big two-out single with the bases loaded in the fourth.

Of note, Jack Harlan threw four shutout innings of outstanding relief to pick up the win. Along the way, he also struck out six Avon batters. For the season, the Bulldogs now move to 5-2-1 and look for revenge this upcoming Thursday as they travel to Rectory for a 3:30 game.

- Coach Evans