JEFFERSONVILLE – The Sullivan West Bulldogs entered their matchup against the Ellenville Blue Devils coming off a recent 8-6 victory over them. The Bulldogs had a strong season overall, with their only loss occurring in April against Port Jervis. 

In this Sectionals game, against the Blue Devils, they secured a convincing 6-1 win, improving their record to 12-1 as they advance to the next round to face the 13-6 Highland Huskies. 

The score was all even at 1-1 by the end of the third inning, and it looked like neither team held a clear advantage. The Bulldogs would score again in the fifth inning, but struck gold when they came up to bat at the bottom of the sixth. The Bulldogs locked in to score four runs to take this sectional game from the Ulster County team. 

Their six-game win streak will boost the dogs as the next stop is the sectional finals. After the game, Coach Durkin shared, “We had a great game defensively, holding an aggressive Ellenville team to 1 run. At the plate, we started out slow but got our bats going in the later innings. Mary Chellis and Kearstin Knapp had 2 hits apiece. Meghan Kelly went 3 for 3 with 3 RBI. This was a huge win for the team.”

Sectional Finals

The Highland Huskies thwarted sectional final hopes for the ‘dogs in a Sunday afternoon meeting that was rained out the day before. After two innings were complete, the Huskies held a small lead at 3-0. By the sixth inning, Highland was up by six, and Sullivan West was up to bat. SW’s Meghan Kelly tapped a single to center field to get to first, followed by a bunt from Kaitlyn Drobysch, who would score off another single by Kearstin Knapp, the only run of the game for SW.

  The Huskies went on to add five more runs in the top of the seventh inning, leading 11-1 before the Bulldogs had their final chance at the plate. The Huskies secured the win over the Bulldogs to advance to the next round. 

This loss brought an end to a highly successful and productive season for the Sullivan West Bulldogs. The #1 Class B seed was OCIAA Divisional Champs this year.