Bulldogs plan to net Dolphins

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, May 7, 2003

Gulf Shores is undefeated against the Andalusia Bulldogs in high school baseball this season.

The Dolphins topped the Bulldogs twice during the regular season by scores of 13-0 and 6-4. The Dolphins also went undefeated against the rest of the team in Class 4A, Area 1 to win the area title.

Andalusia finished area play with just two losses to finish the regular season as the area runner-up.

Andalusia (20-12) will get a chance to avenge the two regular season losses this weekend when the Bulldogs travel south to Gulf Shores for a semifinal series against the Dolphins (29-10). The winner of the best-two-out-of-three series will advance to the Class 4A State Championship Game in Montgomery next weekend.

The series between Andalusia and Gulf Shores will be played at the Gulf Shores Sportsplex beginning at 4:30 p.m. on Friday followed by a 7 p.m. game. If the two teams split, a third and deciding game is scheduled for noon on Saturday.

Andalusia advanced to the semifinal series with a win against Elmore County this past weekend. The Bulldogs won game three by a final score of 3-2 to advance.

Gulf Shores also needed three games last week to advance to the semifinal round. The Dolphins topped Trinity Presbyterian 5-1 on Saturday to advance to the semifinals.

Andalusia Head Coach Ben Ramer said the Bulldogs seem to be peaking at the right time of the season.

"We feel like we our playing our best ball right now," Ramer said.

He also said the Bulldogs are eager to face-off against the Dolphins again with everything on the line.

"We certainly wanted to play them again," Ramer said.

Ramer and the Bulldogs got their wish and now the key will be playing fundamentally-sound baseball against the Dolphins.

"We are going to have to hit the ball to win," Ramer said. "They are not going to walk us. They play very good defense. We can't just put the ball in play, we have to get base hits to beat them."

When the Bulldogs are in the field the players must make plays.

"They are very disciplined hitters," Ramer said about the Dolphins. "They don't swing at bad pitches.

"They put the ball in play and they make you make plays," he added. "They are not going to beat themselves."