Bob Putnam, Times Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
INDIAN ROCKS — For the past month, Bishop McLaughlin has been one of the hottest teams in the bay area with wins in seven of its past eight games.
The only glitch during that stretch came two weeks ago in a loss to Indian Rocks Christian.
The Hurricanes got some measure of revenge Tuesday with a 6-2 victory over the Golden Eagles. Bishop McLaughlin is now 5-1 in Class 2A, District 10.
"The difference this time around is we threw strikes," Bishop McLaughlin coach Nick Rodriguez said. "We walked seven batters the first time we played (IRC). You just can't allow that many baserunners."
Andy Olaniel was effective — and economical — for Bishop McLaughlin. He allowed six hits and two runs in six innings of work. Rodriguez allowed him to go six innings because he had thrown 55 pitches through five.
"Andy really has been big for us the past couple of weeks," Rodriguez said. "He's pitched well and ate up a lot of innings for us."
Indian Rocks Christian's Matt Kulaga was making his second start of the season. He threw well but the defense committed three errors, two of which led to runs in the first four innings.
"We just made too many mistakes out on the field and on the bases," Golden Eagles coach Adam Moravick said. "I thought Matt did well out there. But Bishop is a strong team and was able to put some things together."
The Hurricanes (8-4) scored once in the third inning and twice in the fourth. Indian Rocks Christian (4-7) scored a run in the bottom of the fourth to cut it to 3-1. But Bishop McLaughlin added two more runs in the fifth to put the game away.
It was a tough loss for the Golden Eagles, who went from a first-place tie in the district to third.
The Hurricanes, meanwhile, have gotten back on track after starting 0-3.
"We had some injuries to start the season," Rodriguez said. "But we're starting to heal. We should be in much better shape in about another three weeks."