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LINK … GAME STORY: Jim Ned sees its season end with 3-1 Game 3 loss to Shallowater
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LINK … GAME STORY: Stephenville takes Game 1 from Riverside, 11-6
LINK … GAME STORY: Stephenville sweeps series with Riverside
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LINK … GAME STORY: Stamford clinches first state berth, eliminates Colorado City
MIDLAND — After watching his team suffer a season-ending 3-1 loss to Shallowater in Game 3 of their Region I-3A semifinal on Saturday, Jim Ned coach Ryan Lewis did what true educators do.
He turned the heartbreak into a teachable moment.
MIDLAND — As the drama surrounding the Stephenville Yellowjackets regional semifinal win over El Paso Riverside began to build on Saturday, there was a subtext throughout much of their 6-0 Game 2 victory.
SHS starting pitcher Reece Elston was carrying a no-hitter throughout much of the game, finally losing it on a close call at first base when Riverside’s Dereck Nevarez beat out a ground ball for an infield single with two out in the fifth.
While much of the focus throughout the Stamford softball team’s run to its first state tournament appearance has been on junior pitcher Citlaly Gutierrez, she’s far from the only Lady Bulldogs player with a unique story to tell.
On a young SHS squad made up primarily of juniors and sophomores, another is Laramie Terrell — the only senior on the entire roster for the Austin-bound Lady Bulldogs.
This week saw Terrell play a role in helping Stamford earn a state-clinching series sweep of Colorado City, just one day after walking the stage to get her diploma on Friday night.
Citlaly Gutierrez has been Stamford’s pitching ace since she stepped on campus, putting up mind boggling numbers in the circle.
Saturday morning at Abilene Christian University’s Poly Wells Field, the Texas commit made even more noise with her bat.
The junior’s three-run home run that cleared the batter’s eye in center field highlighted a five-run third inning and Stamford clinched the first state tournament berth in school history with a 8-2 win over Colorado City in the Region I-2A final, sweeping the best-of-three series.
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LINK … GAME STORY: Brock roughs up Brown, Littlefield to complete I-3A semifinals sweep
LINK … GAME STORY: Lightfoot dominates, gets late run support as Brock run-rules Littlefield
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LINK … GAME STORY: Aledo pulls away late to take Game 2, ends successful Wylie season in I-5A semis
The Brock baseball team picked up where it left off Thursday, following its strong finish to Game 1 with a fast start in Game 2 on Friday to sweep Littlefield in a Region I-3A semifinal series at Abilene Christian University’s Crutcher Scott Field.
The Eagles roughed up Wildcats ace Chris Brown, chasing the tall right-hander in the third inning, by which point they had already built an 8-3 lead.
That was more than enough for starter Ian Fuchs and reliever Tristan Boedeker, who allowed just one run after first inning to pitch Brock into the region championship round, where it will face the winner of Jim Ned and Shallowater next week.
MIDLAND — Building a big lead, losing it and recapturing the momentum has long been pointed to as one of the most difficult things to do in any sport.
Yet the Stephenville Yellowjackets did exactly that under late postseason pressure on Friday — handing El Paso Riverside an 11-6 loss in Game 1 of their Region I-4A semifinal series at Max Christensen Stadium.
Needing a win to extend its Region I-5A semifinal series against Aledo and keep its season alive, the Wylie baseball team couldn’t solve the Bearcat pitching duo of Carter Sands and Creed Willems, mustering just five hits in a 6-1 loss Friday at Abilene Christian University’s Crutcher Scott Field.
The Bulldogs, who dropped a 6-5 thriller in nine innings in Thursday’s series opener, found themselves right in the game heading into the late innings in Game 2 as well.
But trailing by a run after Jaxon Hansen singled home Grayson Bearden in the bottom of the fifth to cut a 2-0 deficit in half, Wylie saw Aledo pull away with a pair of two-run innings in its final two at-bats.
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LINK … GAME STORY: Albany falls in two straight to New Deal
It took the Brock lineup a few innings to find its footing in Game 1 of the Eagles’ best-of-three Region I-3A semifinal series against Littlefield on Thursday, but starter Carson Lightfoot made sure his teammates had all the time they needed to get going.
The senior ace allowed two hits over six strong innings, limiting the Wildcats to a single run in the fifth. And by then, BHS had found its groove at the plate in an 11-1 run-rule win at Abilene Christian University’s Crutcher Scott Field.
The Eagles, who were shutout through the first three innings, scored three in the fourth, two in the fifth and six in the sixth to turn a tie game into a rout and take a 1-0 series lead into Game 2, which is scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday at the same site.
SNYDER — New Deal baseball coach Jason Ybarra doesn’t believe in baseball fate. He simply believes in baseball.
And it’s a good thing. Because the superstitious among the New Deal crowd may have believed NDHS was destined to lose after a costly seventh-inning error on a dropped popup with two outs allowed Albany to take a late 4-3 lead in Game 2 of their Region I-2A semifinal series.
An inning later, New Deal (25-3-1) rolled the dice, took the game and the series with a 5-4 win. The victory came on the heels of an 11-4 New Deal victory in Game 1 earlier in the day at Moffett Field.
CLEBURNE — In a Region I-5A semifinal series opener marked by upwards of a dozen potential tell-tale moments, two bouncing balls ultimately sealed the deal in Aledo’s nail-biting, 6-5, nine-inning win over Wylie on Thursday evening.
The first, which denied the Bulldogs a chance to gain the upper hand in the best-of-three series, came off the bat of Wylie catcher Landon Williams in the seventh inning. The game was tied 5-5, and Williams was hitting with two outs and teammate Riley Hood leading off from first base after being hit by a pitch.
The junior backstop blasted a line drive to deep left field, which would have easily scored Hood — save for fact that it bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double. That left Hood at third and Williams at second, and the Bulldogs couldn’t bring either home.
The second, and deciding hop, occurred two innings later. With two outs in the bottom half of the inning and a runner on first, Bearcat right fielder Zach Harrison hit a soft popup some 130 feet from home plate toward the first base line. Had it gone 131, Wylie right fielder Grayson Beardon might have been able to catch it. Instead, his dive came up just short, and the ball caromed off his glove away from second baseman JT Thompson, who was also in hot pursuit — just far enough for Aledo’s Parker Stegall to race around the bases and beat Thompson’s throw by a few feet.
The Stamford and Colorado City softball teams kicked off their best-of-three Region I-2A championship series Thursday with the first state tournament trip for either school on the line.
While it was the Lady Bulldogs who came out on top 7-1 at Abilene Christian University’s Poli Wells Field, both coaches saw plenty of things to be excited about in the series opener.
For Stamford coach Cynthia Herrera, it was an opportunity to play and win in the hot and humid conditions like the Lady Bulldogs could face next week in Austin.
If you were to create a composite based on all of the qualities you look for in a catcher, the final result might look a lot like Wylie’s Landon Williams.
Williams, a junior who is already committed to play Division I baseball for the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, is not only capable of doing all of these things, but he can do them at a high level. And he has done so consistently this season in helping coach Grant Martin’s Bulldogs to the Region I-5A semifinals, where they’ll take on Aledo this week, starting with Game 1 at 5 p.m. Thursday at The Depot in Cleburne.
THIS WEEK: Colorado City coach Kara LeLeux joins the show. Evan and Dan examine last week’s playoff action in softball and baseball.
Blake Sandford has been around the Big Country long enough to know about the region’s high-quality baseball players and coaches.
After retiring from Early ISD in December, Sandford finally has some spare time. So the former major league scout and Brown County coach has started his own instructional baseball business as a way to help grow the sport even further.
Hitman Baseball Academy is at its early stages right now, but Sandford is hopeful his 20-plus years of experience attracts youth who want to improve in all aspects of the game.
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LINK … GAME STORY: Colorado City battles back to sweep pair, take thrilling series from Anson
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LINK … GAME STORY: Brock advances with 5-2 win over Wall
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LINK … GAME STORY: Borden County eliminates Lady Pirates with dramatic play at the plate
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LINK … GAME STORY: Wylie eliminates Randall, 17-7, to advance to Region I-5A semifinals
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LINK … GAME STORY: Jim Ned hangs on to edge Early 3-2
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LINK … GAME STORY: Miller, Anson bullpen pitch Tigers past Hamilton
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LINK … GAME STORY: Neve no-hits Hawley to fuel Albany to 4-0 win, series lead
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LINK … GAME STORY: Cooper rallies past Aledo for 8-6 win in Game 1 of I-5A semifinal series
LINK … GAME RECAP: Cooper sees historic run end with pair of losses to Aledo
Meeting in postseason play for the fourth straight season (excluding the 2020 lockdown year), the Brock Eagles and Wall Hawks have grown quite familiar with one another, despite being separated by nearly 200 miles.
Saturday saw the end of yet another tough series between the two Region I powers, with Brock taking Game 3 of their 3A quarterfinal series 5-2 at Abilene Christian University.
On Wednesday, in the opener of its Region I-2A semifinal series against Anson, the Colorado City softball team watched the Lady Tigers mount a late comeback to hand them a tough 10-9 loss.
On Saturday, it was the Lady Wolves’ turn to rally.
Facing elimination in Game 2, C-City built an early 7-0 lead and held off Anson from there for a series-extending 13-7 victory, before rallying from a 4-0 deficit for a 7-5 win in the deciding third to outlast the Lady Tigers in a thrilling and hard-fought series.
The victory pushed the Lady Wolves into the fifth round of the Class 2A playoffs, where they’ll take on area power Stamford for the Region I title next week.
For five full innings, the Eula Lady Pirates struggled with Borden County starting pitcher Rexie Sanders as the Lady Coyotes gradually built a 6-0 lead.
Eula, however, didn’t leave Poly Wells Field at ACU without creating some drama — tallying three runs in the last two innings and bringing the tying run to the plate in the seventh in a 6-3 loss which ended with bang-bang play at home.
Brookie Gray was 1 for 4 with an RBI triple and Sanders held on for a complete game in the circle to lead Borden County (14-3), which now advances to the Class 1A state semifinals.
HERMLEIGH — Anson coach Scotty Nichols called for a pitch high and wide.
Dylyn Pyle pumped a fastball right down the middle.
Hamilton’s Cole Bauman looked at it for a called strike three and Pyle slammed his glove into the ground and was mobbed by his teammates in front of the mound as the Tigers claimed the Region I-2A quarterfinal series with a 3-2 win on Saturday afternoon.
LUBBOCK — With a steady 20-mph wind blowing directly to left field Friday at Lubbock Cooper’s First United Park, Mother Nature had set a powder keg directly in the path of Wylie and Canyon Randall for Game 2 of their Region I-5A quarterfinal.
And it didn’t take long for someone to light it.
Through a combined 34 hits between the two clubs, 11 extra-base hits and two home runs, Wylie got the better of Randall, closing the game and the series with a 17-7 run-rule win in five innings.
Cooper Hrbacek was 4 for 4 with a triple and four RBIs, JT Thompson was 3 for 4 with two doubles and four RBIs, and Riley Hood was 4 for 5 with two RBIs to lead Wylie (25-80), which advances to face either Aledo or Mansfield Timberview in the regional semifinals next week.
When Albany pitcher Cade Neve is on, it can be a quiet day for the opposition.
Such was the case Friday afternoon at Abilene High’s Blackburn Field, where the senior right-hander pitched around four walks and a couple of errors to no-hit Hawley in a 4-0 win to open the Region I-2A quarterfinal series between the Lions and Bearcats.
Neve, who needed just 98 pitches to complete the game, was in complete control from start to finish, striking out eight Hawley batters to put his team within a win of a trip to the playoffs’ fourth round. Game 2 of the best-of-three series is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday at the same site, with Game 3 (if necessary) to follow.
STEPHENVILLE — After edging Aledo 8-6 in the opener of their Region I-5A semifinals series Friday, the Cooper Lady Cougars saw their momentum and historic playoff run come to an abrupt end Saturday, falling 15-2 and 10-0 to the Ladycats to close their season at 26-10.
The Lady Coogs, who had won their first seven playoff games by a combined score of 86-39, finally ran out of steam against Aledo, managing just seven hits between their two games Saturday.
Cooper fell behind 15-0 after three innings in Game 1 and saw a six-run third for the Ladycats sink its hopes in Game 2, in which the Lady Coogs were shut out for the first time this season.
BROCK — In the old days, it may have called a white knuckler — a stressful situation where failure simply wasn’t an option.
Yet that’s what Jim Ned reliever Blaine Palmer faced with two outs and the bases loaded in the seventh inning — asked to protect a 3-2 lead over Early in a one-game 3A regional quarterfinal.
Palmer overcame an early rush of nerves and delivered a game-clinching strikeout of Early’s Riley Hill to send the Indians (30-0-1) to the Region I-3A semifinals where they will face either Shallowater or Denver City next week.
Early, which saw a solid performance by starting pitcher Caydon Laird go to waste, closed the season at 23-9. But not before putting a serious scare into the Indians in game’s final inning.
When University of Texas commit Citlaly Gutierrez is on top of her game, the Stamford softball team is tough to beat.
On Thursday afternoon, the junior pitcher was a fifth-inning error away from a perfect game as the Lady Bulldogs beat Forsan 10-0 to open their best-of-three Region I-2A semifinal series at Wylie High School.
Gutierrez struck out 15 of the 16 batters that she faced while throwing 65 percent of her 74 pitches for strikes.
STEPHENVILLE — The Cooper softball team extended its playoff winning streak to seven games Thursday, rallying from a fifth-inning deficit to defeat Aledo 8-6 in Game 1 of a Region I-5A semifinal series at the Stephenville softball field.
The Lady Cougars, who came in averaging 13 runs per game in the postseason, got off to a fast start, scoring four runs in the first-inning. But the Ladycats responded with five unanswered runs to take a 5-4 lead after 4½ innings.
It was here, though, that CHS got going again, using a two-out rally to plate three in the bottom of the fifth and hanging on from there to claim its 10th consecutive win.
In reaching the fourth round of the Region I-5A softball playoffs with six consecutive postseason victories, Cooper coach Stacey Herring knew her team had accomplished something pretty special.
She didn’t know just how special, however, until she did a little digging into the program’s history.
As it turns out, the Lady Cougars (25-8) are in the midst of their deepest playoff run since 1996. And while they’re thrilled to stand alone as the most successful CHS team in a quarter-century, they’re not remotely ready call it a season just yet.
In 2020, an Albany baseball team expected by some to make its second straight trip to the state tournament, sat idle.
Like every other high school team across Texas, coach David Fairchild’s crew was grounded for the duration of the statewide lockdown for high school athletics due to the pandemic.
A year later, bolstered a solid 1-2 pitching combo of seniors Cade Neve and Jackson Chapman, the Lions (20-3-1) have pushed to the 2A regional quarterfinal round where they will square off with Hawley (11-19) in a three-game series beginning at 1 p.m. on Friday at Abilene High.
Through the top of the sixth inning on Wednesday afternoon, every single break went the way of the Colorado City softball team in its Region I-2A semifinal opener against Anson at Abilene Christian University’s Poly Wells Field.
In the bottom half of the inning, however, all the breaks went Anson’s way and the Lady Tigers came from behind for a 10-9 win in the first game of the best-of-three series.
Whitney Wilson started the inning with a walk and Landry Overby followed with a mammoth home run to left field that cut the Lady Wolves lead to 9-6 but keyed the six-run rally.
THIS WEEK: Wylie baseball coach Grant Martin talks baseball with Evan and Dan
Photos courtesy of Taylor Seago
The rebuilding Hawley Bearcats were 2-13 in nondistrict baseball games this season. A 5-5 record in District 8-2A, combined with a lost coin flip with Stamford, left Hawley as a No. 4 seed entering the Class 2A playoffs.
But since the postseason began, Hawley has won four of five games, including a two-game sweep of state-ranked De Leon and a marathon three-game series with Eldorado.
So as Hawley (11-19) prepares for its 2A regional quarterfinals best-of-three series against Albany, the answer everyone wants to know is: What happened to the Bearcats once the playoffs began?
As the quarterback for the Wylie football team in the fall, senior Balin Valentine is no stranger to the spotlight or being leaned on to produce in its glow.
So the transition from the football field to the baseball diamond, where he occupies high-profile roles as the Bulldogs’ shortstop and leadoff man, is a remarkably natural one for him.
A catalyst for the Bulldogs in all of his various capacities, Valentine enjoys those pressure-packed situations that might cause others to shrink. And given the success he’s found in them, it’s not hard to see why.
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LINK … GAME STORY: Abilene High drops heartbreaker to Carroll in Reese’s final game
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LINK … GAME STORY: Walks, early grand slam fuel Monterey past Wylie in Game 1
LINK … GAME STORY: Wylie forces rubber match but falls in three to Lubbock Monterey
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LINK … GAME STORY: Hamilton eliminates Forsan with 9-3 win in Game 3 of area series
