Stephanie Sturgis - Press Sports Editor
Posted: Tuesday, May 5, 2009 2:14 pm

Final outing — Gleason senior Colin Bennett struck out a dozen batters in his final high school baseball outing, an 8-7 loss to Halls in the District 14-A Tournament. Bennett was making a return to the mound for the first time since an elbow injury.

The Gleason Bulldogs saw their baseball season come to an end with a play at the plate to break a 7-all tie with the Halls Tigers in the bottom of the seventh inning in the District 14-A Tournament Saturday night at Elam Stadium in Union City.
The Dawgs, who lost 5-1 to Humboldt on Thursday in the double elimination tournament, gave themselves new life by scoring a run in the top of the seventh inning against Halls.
Trailing 7-6, Zach Wallace singled to open the final GHS at-bat. Matt Mayo put down a perfect sacrifice bunt to the third base side, moving Wallace to second. Wallace wasn't done, though. The speedy senior raced all the way to third on the bunt when no Tiger covered the bag. Wallace scored on an Evan Orr groundout to forge a 7-all tie.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Tigers got a leadoff bloop single to left by Craig Davis. Davis moved to second on a groundout to the right side and eventually scored on a passed ball, sliding under the tag of Gleason pitcher Colin Bennett to give Halls the 8-7 win.
Bennett was making his first start in weeks since elbow inflammation had limited him to duty in the field. The senior right-hander struck out a dozen without walking a batter. He did plunk one Halls batter and gave up eight hits in the loss.
Halls jumped in front with a big first inning, plating four runs. Bennett showed some rust, hitting a batter, giving up a triple and balking in a run as the Dawgs fell behind 4-0.
The Tigers moved on top 5-0 with an unearned run in the second inning.
The Gleason offense caught a spark in the third when Nicky Spain homered down the right field line. Hunter Morse and Ryan Richardson also singled and scored with Cody Ezell and Bennett notching an RBI each to cut the gap to two runs at 5-3.
Gleason gained the lead at 6-3 with three runs in the fifth. Bennett scored on a Wallace double. Wallace and Mayo reached home on an Orr double.
Halls regained the lead at 7-6 with two unearned runs in the bottom of the fifth inning.
The Dawgs kept their deficit at one run with a big defensive play in the sixth inning. While Wallace went from first to third on a bunt, the Tigers couldn't match that feat. On the bunt, Bennett dove and rolled  the ball to first baseman Ben Sumner who fired a throw across the diamond to Richardson who applied the tag at third for the out, setting up the seventh inning drama.