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By James A. McCray III
Prince George's County, Content Manager

As Robert Dawkins dipped into his stance at third base during the seventh and final inning of Monday's baseball contest with the hosting Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr. Pumas and Bowie Bulldogs, he took a quick peek towards home plate.

Just as fast as his quick glance towards home plate was over, Dawkins was heading towards the plate with the game tied at 2 and slid over the plate safely delivering the Pumas the 3-2 victory.

"I saw the pitcher did the little pick-off move," Dawkins explained of the moments before his score. "I [saw] he was holding it for a little bit, and then he threw it so I had to go. ... I didn't have to slide, but I slid anyway to get dirty a little bit."

According to Henry Wise head coach Andrew Gilliam, the Pumas have worked on the late-game situation that presented itself on Monday with runners on first and third base.

With Dawkins' teammate Garnett Stephens on first base and threatening to steal second base, Bowie starting pitcher Tony Cerverizzo attempted to throw Stephens out allowing Dawkins to take home.

"We had first and third and something we work on is [a pitcher's] first move," Gilliam said. " ... That is something we do, first move, and boom."

Although Dawkins gave Wise the victory, the unsung hero in Monday's game was sophomore starting pitcher Andrew Byrd who pitched 5 2/3 innings with eight strikeouts in his no decision.

As Byrd did not earn the pitching win, he consistently pitched Wise (2-1) out of several innings in which Bowie had more than one runner on base.

He left two on base in the opening frame and three on in the third inning. In the fifth inning after Bowie's Mike Grzeskiewicz hit what seemed to be a 2-run home run that eventually went foul, Byrd served up a double-play ball and went on to get a strike out for the final out of the inning.

"He is the best sophomore pitcher I have seen," Gilliam said. "He has a live arm. He still has to work on some of his mechanics and things of that nature, but the kid doesn't get rattled and is very poised. In every big game I like to put him out there."

"I'm not going to lie, my arm was sore," Byrd admitted.

Concerning the close call with the home run, Byrd added: "I was scared. I thought I was going to lose the game but [it was] good luck that I had teammates behind me."

Bowie (3-1) suffered its first loss of the season despite T.J. Kidwell crossing the plate to tie the game at 2 in the top half of the sixth inning.

Bowie had runners in scoring position throughout the game, but fell just short of batting them in, a fact that could have played a part in the loss according to Bowie head coach Bob Estes.

"We couldn't put down a bunt," Estes said, "and that is due to their good pitching. Normally, we get those bunts down, move those runners over, and we score, and that didn't happen. We couldn't put the ball in play with two strikes, and we have usually been pretty good at that and moving runners along. So, that adds up to not a very good day.

"[Wise] did a very good job, and I can't say enough about them. They are very improved."

This year's Wise team looks to better its performance from last season that ended with a first-round exit in the 4A South region playoffs.

"We are coming along," Gilliam said. "This was a great win for us. I am happy and excited for them. Last year, I think [Bowie] 10-run ruled us a couple of times. I am just proud of them right now."

Sam Burrell knocked a home run over the left-field fence for Wise's second run of the game in the third inning. Teammate Mike Switzer knocked in the first run of the game on a sacrifice RBI in the first.

E-mail: James A. McCray III
 
Henry Wise 3, Bowie 2
Bowie   --   0 0 1   0 0 1   0 -- 2 6 3
Wise     --   1 1 0   0 0 0   1 -- 3 2 4
WP: L. Burrell   LP: Cerverizzo
2B: B (Thompson, Grzeskiewicz) HR: W (S. Burrell)