Bulldogs advance to Elite Eight with win over Cordova

The top-ranked Priceville Bulldogs earned a hard-fought series win on the road at Cordova to advance to the Elite Eight of the 4A state playoffs. The Bulldogs needed three games to secure the series win. They dropped game one 7-4 before rallying for a 6-2 win in game two and a 4-3 win in game three.

“I think that our guys are a resilient bunch. We don’t flinch very often and we didn’t this weekend against a good baseball team,” Priceville coach Preston Potter said. “We had contributions from a lot of different guys on the roster. Through 2 rounds, I dont think we’ve played to our standard yet, but the guys have stepped up when they needed to to get the job done.”

Game one: Cordova 7, Priceville 4

Priceville saw its 14-game win streak snapped in a 7-4 loss to the host Blue Devils in the first game of their second-round playoff series.

Zach Chaney had three hits, including a triple and a double, and one RBI in the loss. Ty Parker had a triple and an RBI, while Jackson Prickett and Thomas Kerby each had a single and an RBI.

Game two: Priceville 6, Cordova 2

The Bulldogs’ offense woke up in game two as Priceville won 6-2 to earn a split of the series’ first two games.

Robert Munive had a double and four RBI, while Kerby had a double. Chaney, Prickett, Xander Gaines and Parker each had a hit.

Kerby pitched a complete game to earn the win. He allowed two runs on one hit while striking out 10.

Game three: Priceville 4, Cordova 3

The Bulldogs rallied from a 3-2 deficit with two runs in the top of the seventh to take game three of their series with Cordova 4-3.

Chaney had a triple that drove home the game-tying run and scored the game-winner on Prickett’s sacrifice fly.

Prickett finished with two hits and the game-winning RBI, while Ty Parker had an RBI. Robert Munive had two hits.

Prickett started the game and pitched five innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits with nine strikeouts. Colman Gann pitched the final two innings in relief to earn the victory. He allowed only one hit while striking out two.

Priceville will host St. John Paul II in a quarterfinal series scheduled to begin Thursday.

“JPII is a tough, well-coached team that doesn’t beat themselves,” Potter said. “They hit, they pitch, and field really well. It will take our best baseball to beat them once, especially 2 out of 3.”