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Red-hot Bulldogs roll past Aggies

Two-out hits are generally crucially to any baseball team’s success.
On Wednesday, Centennial turned two-out hitting into an art form.
The Bulldogs (12-8, 8-3 Northwest) went 12-for-18 with six walks, two hit batsmen and 11 RBIs with two outs on their way to a 13-8 home win over Arbor View.
“We preach let the ball get to you, and hit it where it’s pitched,” Centennial coach Charlie Cerrone said. “Early on in the season, with our inexperience, we weren’t allowing that to happen. Lately, we’ve just been getting lucky.”
After starting the season 3-8, including dropping the opening three games of Northwest League play, the Bulldogs have rattled off nine straight wins, scoring 115 runs in those games.
“It’s a combination of the approach and gaining some varsity experience,” Cerrone said. “The guys who didn’t play much (last year) are starting to get a little more confident.”
And the offense got clicking early Wednesday.
With two outs and the bases empty in the second inning, Centennial put nine consecutive batters on base, scoring eight runs.
An infield single by Drake Sacenti started the uprising. Ian Ogurek followed with a wind-blown bloop single to center. A pair of walks, sandwiched around an infield hit by Keith Krueger, tied the game at 2-2 and loaded the bases.
Casey Moses blooped a two-run double to shallow right, and Chapman Schmidt drilled a three-run home run to center field. After Bryan Bonnell was hit by a pitch, Bruce Lewallen stroked an RBI double to left-center.
The Bulldogs tacked on two runs in the third and fourth innings and one more in the fifth, and didn’t let the Aggies (11-6, 5-4) back into the game.
Moses went 4-for-4 — all with two outs — with two doubles and three RBIs, and Ogurek, the No. 8 hitter in the lineup, was 4-for-4 with two doubles, an RBI and three runs.
“We’ve had a hard-working group of guys, and Ian is one of the hardest workers,” Cerrone said. “I’m on him every day, but he works hard.”
Every Centennial starter had at least one hit.
P.J. Gonzalez was 3-for-5 with a double, two runs and an RBI for Arbor View, and Ryan Chen went 2-for-3 with four RBIs.

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