The Silicon Valley Bulldogs – an under-14 travelling baseball
team consisting of players from Morgan Hill and Gilroy – began
their 2003-04 season in September, winning three tournaments and
finishing 2nd in the fourth tournament. The team has been together
since April of 2001, when they were under-11, with the players
coming from the Morgan Hill PONY Baseball program.
The Silicon Valley Bulldogs – an under-14 travelling baseball team consisting of players from Morgan Hill and Gilroy – began their 2003-04 season in September, winning three tournaments and finishing 2nd in the fourth tournament. The team has been together since April of 2001, when they were under-11, with the players coming from the Morgan Hill PONY Baseball program. The new season actually begins on August 1st of each year, and with this move, the players moved up to a “full-size” baseball diamond, with 90-foot bases, and a 60-foot pitching distance. The step up did not bother the team however, as they have been training on the Live Oak High School diamond since June. The majority of the team comprised the “PONY-13” All-Star squad, which made the Western U.S. Zone tournament last summer, in Fullerton, CA.
In their first tournament, held over Labor Day weekend in Reno, the Bulldogs comprised a 5-0 record, defeating the Delta Rebels from Stockton in the Championship Game. The Bulldogs had an easy road to the final, 10-running all of their opponents, and highlighted by a long home run by Adam Perez. In the final, the Bulldogs trailed the Rebels in the early innings, but were sparked by a Rebel player sliding in hard to 2nd baseman Danny Nelson. The Bulldogs responded with several runs, and eventually won by the 10-run rule.
In September, the Bulldogs travelled to Fremont, and won all three of their preliminary games before facing the powerful Starmaker Sharks in the finale.
The Bulldogs led early in the game by one run, but the heat and some uncharacteristic errors eventually took their toll, as the Bulldogs lost 5-2.
In mid-October, the Bulldogs played a local tournament in Almaden Valley, and defeated two other Silicon Valley teams – the Ballistics and Dragons in their first two games. Mike Devine and Anthony Bradley each had five hits for the Bulldogs offense. On Sunday, they played the “Nor-Cal” team twice, and won easily in the championship game, led by a six-inning masterful pitching performance by Jacob Dexter. Closer Matthew Cummins came in to retire the side in the 7th inning.
In what would turn out to be their last tournament of 2003, the Bulldogs travelled to Martinez, CA and won both preliminary games on Saturday, behind excellent pitching from Kevin Grove, Jonathan Hughes, Perez, and Stephen Smith. The Bulldogs lost their only game of the tournament in the final pool-play game on Sunday morning, losing by a run to the Woodland team. In the semi-final against the Alameda Storm, timely hitting from Billy Hill, Ryan Evanger, Cummins, and Nelson led the Bulldogs back to the final, with a re-match against the team from Woodland. Dexter went all 7 innings in the finale, as the Bulldogs won the championship going away. With the game close in the 4th inning, a key double from Michael Durham broke the game open.
As the Bulldogs prepare to play their 2004 calendar season (January – early March, plus an Easter week tournament), they are looking to add 2-3 players to the team.
Any interested players should contact Joe Grove at (408) 761-1144.
