JERSEY SHORE - Jersey Shore's non-league baseball game with Bellefonte on Friday still had plenty of meaning for the Bulldogs.
One year ago, the Red Raiders scored 15 runs and shut out Jersey Shore, and the Bulldogs had to wait a whole year to return the favor.
On the heels of clinching the HAC-I title on Thursday against Milton, Jersey Shore kept all phases of its game in high gear and defeated the Raiders, 13-1, in five innings.
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MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette
Jersey Shore’s Galen Greider is congratulated by teammates on Friday after scoring on a wild pitch in the second inning against Bellefonte at Jersey Shore. The Bulldogs won the game, 13-1. View additional photos at cu.sungazette.com
"After clinching the league title, you are always set up for an emotional letdown," said Shore head coach Matt O'Brien. "But the kids were hungry for today's game, and although we didn't have a lot of our guys who played in that game (15-0 loss), they were there and watched it happen. I don't know if they remember the 15-0 loss or the two-hour practice we had following the game on Bellefonte's field."
Bellefonte finished its season 5-14.
"They (Jersey Shore) played today the way they have been playing," said Bellefonte head coach Jeremy Rellinger. "They have been hitting the ball well and scoring a lot of runs and it is just a matter of trying to keep up with that. Obviously that wasn't the case for us today."
Bellefonte scored its only run of the game in the first inning on three consecutive hits by Andrew Stover, Dan Roan and Doylan Deitrich, and an RBI groundout from Tyler Sunday.
Jersey Shore had only three hits through two innings, but took advantage of a lot of Bellefonte mistakes to take a commanding 9-1 lead behind starter Caleb Barnhart.
"Although we didn't have a lot of hits, we put the ball in play and that kept the pressure on their defense," said O'Brien. "We didn't strike out much and most importantly their first pitcher had a little trouble finding the zone. We were able to stay disciplined at the plate rather than getting overaggressive and that was a big part of our early success."
Rellinger felt that many of his team's mistakes were largely due to trying to get the younger players some valuable playing time.
"Trying to get more experience out of our so-called younger kids hurt us today," he said. "They play plenty of baseball, but they need that higher level experience, especially the pitching staff. It is going to be a work in progress, but we are continuing to work on it. They have a lot of work ahead of them this summer and if they work hard, hopefully we'll be able to come back next year with a little better arrangement."
Still leading 9-1 with just four hits through three innings, the Bulldogs became aggressive at the plate and rapped out seven hits to score the final four runs of the game in the fourth inning.
"I hope that was our real hitting team," said O'Brien. "We have a lot of potential and hitting is contagious and once someone gets it started, the other guys behind him follow. It really comes down to who is going to get that first key hit and once it started, it was excited to finish strong."
Bellefonte 100 00 -- 1 4 2
Jersey Shore 450 4X -- 13 11 1
Mike Mann, Doylan Deitrich (2) and Ryan McCloskey. Caleb Barnhart, Travis Eiswerth (3) and Eric Huling. WP: Eiswerth. LP: Mann. 2B: Colton Potter (JS), Galen Greider (JS).
