Bulldogs swinging big bats in 2002

Spencer Patterson

Wednesday, May 15, 2002 | 9:24 a.m.

As a sophomore at brand new Centennial High School in the spring of 2000, Chris Bonnell wondered how long it would take before the Bulldogs became a state tournament-caliber program.

"I thought it would happen further down the road, after I was gone," Bonnell said. "We were getting 10-run ruled almost every game back then."

As it turns out, it took just three years for Centennial to earn its first trip to the NIAA/U.S. Bank 4A State Tournament. The Bulldogs will be the lone newcomers in the field of eight when the 2002 event gets under way Thursday at Henderson's Burkholder and Lied fields.

And these days, it's usually Bonnell and his teammates forcing the 10-run mercy rule on their opponents, rather than the other way around.

Batting a gaudy .423 as a team, Centennial (31-6) has scored a whopping 394 runs this season -- an average of 10.6 per game. The Bulldogs have scored 10 or more runs 23 times, and have been held under five runs only four times.

"We try to get five runs in every inning and put teams away to make the game shorter," said Bonnell, who leads the squad with a .504 average. "If we get a hit we want another one. We're never satisfied."

Bonnell, the player of the year in the Northwest Division, comes into the state tournament with 45 RBIs and amazingly, that doesn't even rank first on his own team. J.C. Leach has that honor at the moment with 48, with Tim Wheeler (47), Bryce Massanari (45), Rob Arata (37) and Julius Rivera (35) all close behind.

Despite all that offensive success, however, head coach Charlie Cerrone said his hitters remain humble, due in part to his routine warnings.

"I remind them constantly that you always have to stay focused, that on any given day any team can beat them," Cerrone said. "And what's helped us is we've still got enough guys who were around when we got our butts kicked two years ago. They know they can't take any team lightly."

That certainly goes for the Bulldogs' first round opponent, defending state champion Green Valley. Back in March, Gators' ace Ryan Tabor became the only pitcher this year to shut out Centennial -- one-hitting the Bulldogs in a 10-0, five-inning affair, no less -- and the left-hander is expected to be back on the mound when the teams meet Thursday at 9 a.m. at Burkholder.

"We're fired up to see (Tabor) again," Leach said. "He shut us down the first time, so we're looking forward to it."

Added Massanari: "That's the only time I think a team actually beat us. We need to take advantage of pitches early in the count, and we need to swing the bat a lot this game."

Of course, hitting alone probably won't propel the Bulldogs to this year's title. Pitching will also have a lot to do with who wins, particularly in an event that requires the champion to play a minimum of four games in three days.

Though Centennial's players and coaches admit their club doesn't feature an overpowering ace along the lines of Tabor or Basic's Matt Elliott, the Bulldogs' staff has more than held its own against tough competition this year.

"None of our pitches will dazzle you -- they all throw 80-84 (mph) -- but they keep guys off base and do what they need to to win," Cerrone said.

If the Bulldogs' pitchers can continue to do that, they can be almost certain they will receive plenty of offensive support. And that could add up to a state championship combination.

"When we were sophomores, one of our goals was to make the state tournament someday," Bonnell said. "Now that we're here, we want to win it. That would be awesome."

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