Building from the ground up is never easy. The Harts Bluff baseball program wouldn’t want easy, anyway.
The Bulldogs, in their first UIL district, have taken their lumps in a tough district slate, but did pick up their first ever district win March 17 when they shut out Detroit, 7-0.
The Bulldogs then ran into the top of the district, falling on the road at Maud, then at McLeod, 15-1, then at James Bowie (13-3), followed by home losses to Ore City (16-2) and Linden-Kildare (12-0).
Friday evening, the Bulldogs took on another team near the top of the district when they traveled to Rivercrest. The last time the two teams met, Rivercrest picked up a 12-1 win.
In round two, the Bulldogs got off to a fast start, scoring the game’s first two runs, but the Rebels scored six times in the bottom of the first, then slammed the door with a 16-run third inning as the Rebels won, 23-3.
Harts Bluff finished with four hits on the night. Cameron Erwin finished 2-3 on the night. Cohen Williams and Alec Dunn had the Bulldogs’ other hits; Dunn also had two RBIs. Williams, Hunter Green and Jacob Lilly scored for Harts Bluff.
Collen Hosterman held Rivercrest to three hits in relief for the Bulldogs.
Harts Bluff traveled to Detroit Tuesday and will host Maud Friday.