SENIOR NIGHT WALK OFF

Trenton Rallies For Thrilling Senior-Night Victory
Cole Schilling walked to the plate knowing full well this was probably going to be the last at bat he would ever take as a Trenton Bulldog on Burleigh Grimes Field. With the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the eighth inning, Trenton and a visiting team made up of players from Mercer and Princeton stood deadlocked at 7-7.
It was a hero moment, but all Schilling had to do was put the ball in play.
Avery Cooksey, another senior and one of the Bulldogs’ fastest players, broke home from third base when Schilling chopped a grounder to short stop. Even with the infield in, Cooksey beat the throw to the plate and Trenton walked off winners, 8-7.
“To get a big comeback win on senior night, it was really exciting,” Trenton Head Coach Andy Hight said.
Trenton needed a big comeback to get the win after starting the game in a 5-0 hole after just three innings. The Bulldogs were coming off a 20-12 loss to South Harrison from the night before and the hangover from that loss, which snapped a three-game winning streak, appeared present in the early going.
But, the Bulldogs hit the go button in the fourth inning. Trenton plated a run there and followed it up with three runs in the fifth. Another two runs in the sixth tied the game at 7-7.
“I started feeling a lot better later in the game because it looked like our old, regular team showed back up,” Hight said. “I felt like early in the game we kind of carried over some poor play from yesterday, but then, all of a sudden there in the fourth inning, we started playing really good baseball – kind of the baseball we are used to playing.”
Trenton would score the tying runs when Colton Colston struck out with runners on second and third. The ball skipped away from the Mercer catcher, however, and Colston beat the throw to first base to keep the inning alive. In the scramble to retire Colston, who would have been the third out of the inning, Trenton was able to plate both runners that were on base and tie the game.
Cooksey took over on the hill in the seventh and threw two scoreless innings before scoring the winning run in the bottom of the eighth. Cooksey would pick up the win on the hill, allowing just one hit while striking out two in his two shutout frames. At the plate, he was two-for-two with a double, two RBIs and three runs scored – including the game-winner.
Cole Schilling would finish the game one-for-four, driving in three runs including Cooksey in the eighth.

“That’s a really exciting way to win,” Hight said. “We were down 7-2 with only two at bats to get it done and we end up winning it. I think (the team) is really excited, but they also understand that they have some things that we need to clean up before districts. But, confidence-wise, we should be at an all-time high.”
With the win, Trenton surpassed its win total from last season and moved to 9-13 on the year. The Bulldogs won eight games in their inaugural season, going 8-14.
SENIOR NIGHT
Trenton honored its seniors following the win. Those honored included Hunter Dugan, Cole Schilling, Cooksey, Colston and Jesse Farmer.
“It was a really big deal to me just to honor those guys,” Hight said. “Those guys mean a lot to this program and they have kind of been our core for the last two years. They’ve done a lot of things on the field and off to help our program. We are really proud of them and I can’t say enough about how well our seniors stepped up and played tonight. They were a big reason why we won.”
UP NEXT
Trenton takes on LeBlond in the first round of the Class 3, District 16 Tournament on Friday in Lathrop. The first pitch is set for 7 p.m.