By Mike Penn
Michigan Director of Scouting

After being rained out on Tuesday, Romeo and Rochester played their Pre-district game this morning at Romeo High School.  

Senior Alec Padilla, a Madonna commit, was good early.  He sat between 84-87mph on the mound.  He struck out the side in the first and cruised through the second inning.  However, he surrendered two runs in the third after struggling with his command a bit.

Padilla left the game after the Bulldogs exploded for eight runs in the top of the fourth inning.  They pushed the tempo and forced action in the inning by stealing and taking the extra base.

Junior Greg Antoine had two hits in the fourth (a double and a single) to help jumpstart the offense in the inning. Antoine also stole three bags on the night and finished 2-for-2. But it was Padilla who delivered the knock out blow.

With the bases loaded and the Bulldogs already scoring four runs, Padilla stepped to the plate and hammered a bases loaded double to the left center gap scoring two runs. 

Rochester wouldn’t go quietly however.  In the bottom half of the fourth, sophomore Jacob Stout launched a homerun down the left field line making the score 10-3.

In the bottom of the fifth, Rochester scored two more with help from back to back doubles by sophomore Max Harper and senior Matt Beckstrom. 

But the 10-5 score would be the stand as the final, as senior Derek Staelgraeve worked an uneventful seventh inning for Romeo.

Romeo advances and will play Stoney Creek HS on Saturday in the Districts.