BERNE — With the season winding down, the Berne-Knox-Westerlo baseball team picked a good time to play one of its best games of the season.

Led by a strong pitching performance from Josh Skinner and some timely hits, the Bulldogs beat Galway, 7-3, in a smoothly played, fast-paced game at BKW on Monday.
"If this was not the best game of the year, then it is one of the top two we’ve played this year," said BKW Coach Jeff Teats. "The way they [Galway] played, they put pressure on us. They made us make plays. And we made them."

The win bumped the Bulldogs record to 5-7 in the Western Athletic Conference. The Bulldogs need to get their record to .500 if they want to make the sectional playoffs.
"They are all big," Teats said of the late-season games. "With the place we put ourselves in, we needed to go 5-2 to even our record. Now we have to go 4-2. We now have to play consistent baseball. We have been beating ourselves."

"Working hard"

Galway jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top half of the first inning. But BKW responded with two runs in the bottom half of the frame.

Skinner led off the inning with a single and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Skinner moved to third on a groundout by Rich Geist. Bobby Patrick singled to drive in Skinner and even up the game.

Patrick stole second base, and scored on Len Coons’s RBI double to right field. Coons moved to third base on a wild pitch. He then tried to score on Jayson Villeneuve’s groundout but was tagged out at the plate.

Skinner and the BKW defense proceeded to shut out the Eagles for the next three innings and tacked on two runs.

The Bulldogs got a run in the second inning when Matt Lounsbury led off the stanza with a double. Lounsbury advanced to third on a groundout by Greg Mulson.

Then, with Ben Burton up to bat, Teats called for a squeeze play but the pitch was wide of the strike zone and Burton reached out to put the bat on the ball but missed. However, Lounsbury, who broke towards home on the pitch, was safe at the plate with a stolen base.

The Bulldogs scored another run in the bottom of the fourth inning to increase their lead to 4-1.

Coons led off the inning with a walk and later scored when Mulson singled to center and the ball was misplayed by the center fielder. Coons rambled around the bases and scored from first.

Galway cut into the lead with runs in the fifth and sixth innings, but BKW answered with three runs in the bottom of the sixth to seal the win.

Villeneuve singled with one out in the stanza. He stole second base and then scored on Lounsbury’s double. Lounsbury then stole third base and would score when a pick off attempt went wide of third base.

Mulson walked before the pick-off attempt and advanced to second on the pitcher’s error. Mulson moved to third on a wild pitch and then scored easily on a single by Steve Gerard, who was pinch hitting for Jeremy Springer.
"We’ve been getting a lot of loud outs," Teats said. "We’re not getting key hits and have not been getting two-out hits at all. The kids have stayed positive and are working hard. They want to be successful. This should be a good start."

Skinner pitched all seven innings and gave up just three hits. He struck out six batters and gave up four walks.
"Josh always throws the ball around the plate," Teats said. "He makes the other team get to him. He doesn’t hurt himself. The defense helped him a lot today. I can’t complain about what he did today. He attacked the zone better."

"We are getting better"

BKW lost to Duanesburg, 8-2, on Saturday. But the Bulldogs beat Northville on Friday, 26-3.
"It was like batting practice," Teats said. "We had five homeruns in the game."

Patrick, Geist, and Villeneuve each hit a home run. Skinner hit two, one being a grand slam.

Coons pitched five innings with 11 strikeouts and gave up five hits.

Last Wednesday, the Bulldogs dropped a 12-2 decision to Schoharie.
"It was awful," Teats said. "It was the worst game we played all year."

BKW played better in a 9-4 win over Saint Johnsville on May 1. Patrick led the Bulldogs with a superb performance on the mound. He struck out 17 Saints in the contest.

The Bulldogs played Duanesburg on Wednesday. BKW then travels to play Middleburgh on Friday, to Mayfield on Monday and to Schoharie on Friday.

The Bulldogs wrap up the Western Athletic Conference season next Thursday against Canajoharie.

The Bulldogs need to win four games to make the sectional playoffs. And if they play the way they did on Monday, the playoffs are a good possibility.
"We played a good game," Teats said. "It was a good seven innings of baseball on offense and defense. We are getting better and better."