Even if its been 31 years since the Durham Bulls left Durham Athletic Park, there’s still something divine about playing there.
It is the park where “Bull Durham” was shot and numerous Baseball Hall of Famers, from Kennesaw Mountain Landis to Chipper Jones, watched and played games.
On Tuesday night, the night before the Durham Bulls celebrated its 46th anniversary of its 1980 return to minor league baseball, the Orange Panthers got a Crash Davis-style performance from Kayden Bradsher in a dominant win over Durham School of the Arts.
Bradsher went 2-for-4 with four RBIs while junior Oliver Van Tiem hit his fourth home run in a 14-1 win over the Bulldogs in five innings. Ryan Sawyer struck out 12 in five innings to earn the win.
Van Tiem’s solo homer in the third inning went over the left field fence and extended his hitting streak to eleven games.
Orange (10-7 overall, 4-3 in the Big 7 Conference) has won seven of its last nine games.
Durham School of the Arts scored the opening run after Lucas Bartosik drove in Mauricio Di Bona with a single to centerfield. That was the last run allowed by Sawyer, who earned his third win of the season.
Orange responded with five runs in the second inning. Cayden Pope plopped a single to centerfield to score Cam Brown, who was hit by a pitch, tying the game 1-1. After Gary Miller walked to load the bases, freshman Ben Knowles scored on a wild pitch. Bradsher delivered an RBI single to bring in Miller and Pope. Bradsher wound up at second on the throw. He stole third base and eventually scored when the throw from the catcher wound up in left field.
Following Van Tiem’s home run, Miller sent a fly ball talent field that fell for a triple, scoring Brown and Pope, increasing the Panther lead to 8-1. Bradsher reached on a dropped ball in right field, allowing Miler to score.
Knowles led off the fifth inning with a double. Bradsher drove in two more runs with another single, scoring Pope and Knowles. J.P. Rodio added a two-run single as Orange scored five more runs in the fifth.
Orange will host Apex Friendship in a nonconference game in Hillsborough on Wednesday night. The Panthers will host DSA to close out the two-game series on Friday night, which will also be Senior Night.
