By GERARDO RECINOS
Martinez Tribune

From the first pitch of the ball game the Alhambra Bulldogs were behind the eight ball. They and their starting pitcher were down, but not out, and came back to win their own Easter Tournament almost two weeks after its inception.

Brett Sterrer’s first pitch in the restart of the suspended game was a strike, but after attempting to come back from a 3-0 account that junior Jordyn Eglite left for him a week prior, Sterrer walked the first hitter.

But the junior right hander took the chance to get the win by getting out of a jam with two runners on by getting out of the fifth inning, and pitching a perfect sixth after Pittsburg’s Dominic Arias struck out the side in his first action since the start of the game a week prior.

But time allowed the Bulldogs to break through Arias. They had only managed a single hit off the junior right hander from Pittsburg the first time they saw him.

But having had a week in between appearances they were able to capitalize.

Matt Beck sparked the rally after taking a 1-1 fastball in the back. The senior swiped second and moved over to third on a wild pitch.

He was driven in by senior catcher Josh Abraham, who slapped a ball through a drawn in infield. Another miscue between the Pittsburg battery allowed the Bulldogs to set themselves up to take the lead, and rather than try and score via a bunt, Daryl King let his pitcher hit.

Sterrer fouled off three of the eight pitches he saw in his at bat before lining a single into center field to help his cause and give the Bulldogs the lead in the latest possible moment he could.

Not content with driving in just the winning run, Sterrer struck out the side in the top of the seventh inning after allowing a single. He twirled a few nasty curve balls to get the Pirates’ hitters swinging wildly.

And most importantly, he got out of the inning by striking out the short stop second best hitter, and walked off the mound with the leading RBI man, Miguel Macias, on deck, without a chance to take back the lead for Pittsburg.

The celebration was muted, probably by the week-long delay, but certainly not any less deserved. The Bulldogs’ win over a Division I opponent can’t benefit them much in the playoff seeding chase, but can’t hurt them. As it stands Alhambra is near the top of Division III, but there is still plenty of baseball left to play for the Easter Tournament Champions.