Bullard baseball swings toward title

Knights capitalize on an off day for Buchanan pitcher.

Published online on Friday, May. 22, 2009

It was a day that Buchanan High's Seth Moranda, a 16-year-old sophomore, showed his age for the first time this season.

A day that LaBronze Sanderson set cell phones abuzz throughout the central San Joaquin Valley by belting a grand slam to thrust eighth-seeded Bullard into an 8-0, third-inning lead over the No. 1 Bears.

A day that the state's fourth-ranked Buchanan -- 4-0 against the Knights coming in -- staged two furious rallies, featuring Brett Bishop's two-run homer in a six-run fifth and Chris Rodgers' three-run blast in the seventh.

And a day that Bullard's most valuable player, Blake Dunn, closed it.

But this was Tyler Clark's day.

Finally.

"Surprised," Clark said of getting a pinch-hit call from coach Chad Thornhill with two outs in the top of the seventh -- with a .100 batting average (2 for 20) -- and hitting an RBI single on the first pitch for what would prove to be the winning run in the Knights' stunning 10-9 victory in the quarterfinals of the Central Section Division I playoffs.

"I wasn't expecting it to be, but it was nice to have an insurance run -- and turned out we needed it," Clark said of the soft liner over shortstop that extended Bullard's lead to 10-6.

Dunn, who can hit (.460) as well as he can kick a football -- and he was a Bee All-Star doing that -- ended it following Rodgers' homer by inducing UC Davis-bound Seth Batty to ground back to the mound.

"We're playing with a swagger right now that we haven't had all year, and now's a great time to discover it," said Thornhill, whose 21-10 Knights will carry a 13-game winning streak into a 4:30 p.m. Tuesday semifinal at defending D-I champion Stockdale (24-5).

The game was moved up a day to accommodate Stockdale's graduation on Wednesday.

What a ceremony Friday at Buchanan (24-5-1) for Bullard, seeking its first title in 10 years. And, to think, all that required energy after an 8-0 lead.

"I told the team eight wouldn't be enough," said Sanderson, who hadn't hit a home run in 95 at-bats before banging a 2-2 Moranda curveball off the batter's eye in straightaway center field. Sanderson also singled and scored on Clark's pinch-hit in the seventh.

The four runs in the third were earned off Moranda, who arrived with a 10-1 record and 0.82 ERA. The four runs in the first, however, were unearned after he threw away two balls to first after fielding bunts.

The clue that something was askew with the right-hander was provided immediately when his first pitch sailed over Chewy Telesco's head. Telesco drove the next pitch down the left-field line for a double. Dunn's first of three hits soon after scored a run, and another came in on a wild pitch.

It was that kind of day for Moranda.

"He got us here," Bears coach Tom Donald said.

That fact wasn't lost on the Knights.

"I'm actually going to come back here in a few years just to watch that kid," Sanderson said. "He's a great pitcher, but he's also two years younger than us and we were like, 'Let's show him where he needs to be.' "