Bulldogs beat Branham 7-1 Thursday, and Gunn 14-5 Saturday
MORGAN HILL — Sobrato bounced back from a two-game slide in a big way Thursday, scoring five runs in the third inning on the way to beating the Branham Bruins 7-1 in Mount Hamilton Division baseball.
Shea Adams tossed a complete-game three-hitter, and David Rotter drove in two runs for the host Bulldogs, who improved to 7-8 overall and 5-5 in league play. They rebounded from Tuesday’s 4-1 loss to Branham and remained part of a three-way tie for third place with the Bruins (8-7, 5-5) and Live Oak.
“Bouncing back and splitting with a team that beat you is very important in our league,” Sobrato coach Ulises “Shorty” Gutierrez said. “Getting our bats going like we can, getting clutch hits like we can — it’s all contagious.
“We’re in position to come out on top in that middle pack of the league.”
Sobrato outhit the Bruins 8-3, but didn’t need much offense behind Adams (2-1). The senior right-hander struck out three, walked two and surrendered one unearned run.
“Shea came through with another big performance for us, and the defense helped him,” Gutierrez said.
At the plate for the Bulldogs, Bryan Bradley went 2 for 2 with a walk and one run, and Billy Birrell smacked an RBI double.
Branham starter Nick Rossetta (2-2) was chased off after the fourth inning.
Branham scored in the seventh inning when Nick Fanning drove home Michael Cardoso.
Sobrato showed little mercy against Gunn in nonleague play Saturday.
The Bulldogs cranked 18 hits, including a 3-for-5 effort by Bradley, in a 14-5 thrashing in Palo Alto.
It was an eighth consecutive loss for Titans (3-12, 1-5), of the El Camino Athletic League.
Sobrato scored four runs in the third inning and eight in the fifth, capitalizing on four Gunn errors.
Birrell and Bradley doubled twice, with Birrell collecting three RBIs. Bradley also scored twice. Ryan Williams went 2 for 3 and brought in two runs, Tim Andrade went 2 for 4 with a double and two stolen bases and Chris Bradley scored three times for the Bulldogs, who posted their biggest offensive output since beating Independence 21-4 April 18, 2007.
Chris Bradley started on the hill and picked up his first victory of the season. He struck out eight and yielded four runs — all unearned — on five hits in five innings.
Sobrato will host the first of two games this week against Pioneer at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.
