The Brownwood Lions improved to 11-1 in one-run decisions and reduced their magic number to one in their quest for the District 6-4A baseball championship thanks to a 4-3 come-from-behind victory over the Stephenville Yellow Jackets Tuesday night at Morris Southall Field.
“We don’t panic when times are tough,” Brownwood head coach Blake Sandford said of the Lions’ ability to emerge victorious in close games. “Times are going to be tough the rest of their lives so, with this, you just go on to the next pitch and try and make it as seamless as possible if we do make a mistake. We’re not trying to crush them, but uplift them and move forward. Everything is about moving forward in life and that’s what we’re doing with these kids and they’re able to overcome some adversity. It would be nice to score 10 runs a game but that doesn’t always happen in baseball or in life, so to be able to battle and overcome is a great thing within their DNA right now.”
The Lions (19-5-1, 8-1) need just one more victory in their final three district outings – at Stephenville at 7 p.m. Friday and games against Glen Rose April 23 and April 26 – or one loss by Stephenville (16-8-1, 4-3) in its last five 6-4A outings to lock up the top seed for the playoffs and no worse than a share of a district championship. With the win Tuesday night, Brownwood would own any potential tiebreaker with Stephenville as the Lions also claimed a 3-2 decision in the first meeting between the two rivals.
“It’s never going to be easy,” Sandford said of closing in on a potential district title. “It’s a tough district with well-coached players with every team we face and tonight was no exception. Hats off to Stephenville for battling, and hats off to our kids for the way we battled, fought, and didn’t lose our sense of calm. When it doesn’t look as good as it’s supposed to look, sometimes you just have to keep on keeping on.”
A wild sixth inning ultimately decided a contest that featured numerous twists and turns throughout.
Facing a 3-1 deficit in the bottom of the sixth, David Turner led off with a single, but was erased when Gavin Brandstetter reached on a fielder’s choice. Logan Posey then drew a walk off Stephenville starter Wacey Dill – who ultimately gave up three runs on six hits with five strikeouts and two walks – as he was then pulled in favor of reliever Gage Elms.
Elms immediately surrendered a single to left field by Jack Field, which loaded the bases with one out. Austin Pittman then laid down a squeeze bunt in front of the plate that Stephenville catcher Tanner Smith fielded and fired to first base. Brandstetter scored on the bunt, but no one covered first base for Stephenville which allowed Weston Wolf – running for Posey – to also race home and knot the score at 3.
“Big time players make big time plays, then we when have a chance to create chaos I think everyone knows chaos is coming,” Sandford said. “I’m proud of the kids for being able to handle an extreme amount of pressure.”
The inning continued when Eli Hill drew a walk off Elms – the third of the game issued by Stephenville pitching. That brought Antonio Ybarra to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs, and prior to a 1-2 pitch, Elms was called for a balk that allowed Field to trot home with the decisive run.
“He flinched and flicked his hands,” Sandford said of the balk call against Elms that pushed across the winning run.
In the top of the sixth, the Yellow Jackets had a chance to expand on their 3-1 lead as Smith and Jayden Ferguson walked and Tyler Hicks was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs. Noah Gonzalez, who came on in relief of Brandstetter, induced a ground ball back to the mound by Mason Haynes. Gonzalez threw to Logan Posey at the plate for the first out, then Posey fired to David Turner at first base to complete the double play. Gonzalez then struck out Eli Hitola to escape the jam.
“Logan did such a great job firing that back to David at first on a spot throw,” Sandford said. “We have players with great arms, and the ability to play catch will give you a chance to win a ball game.”
Brandstetter pitched five innings and allowed three earned runs on nine hits with four strikeouts and three walks, while Gonzalez picked up the win in relief with two scoreless innings that featured three strikeouts and a pair of walks. The duo left a total of 10 base runners stranded.
“We have a really great pitching staff, they do a good job of keeping us in ball games and in the position to win a ball game,” Sandford said. “We have to take our hats off to those guys because there’s no lonelier position than being on the hill and they’re doing a good job with that. We have some depth there, and we’re thankful for that. It’s one of those things where you just keep grinding.”
The lead-off batter reached in the second, third and fourth innings for Stephenville, and came home to score in each frame as the Yellow Jackets built a 3-0 advantage.
The Lions escaped further damage in the second as the first three batters reached – Haiden Rufloff was hit by a pitch, Jadis Clemmer doubled him home and Kutter Stone followed with a single to left field. But Brandstetter retired Smith on a grounder to Austin Wright at third that he threw to Posey at home who ran down Clemmer for the first out. Hicks then struck out and Ferguson grounded out to Brandstetter to keep the Stephenville edge at 1-0.
In the fourth inning, Smith led off with a single and Hicks reached on an error to start the frame. With one out, Haynes singled to left field to plate Smith, but Eli Hill gunned down Hicks at the plate the keep the score 3-0.
“He’s got a plus arm and he made a really great play,” Sandford said of Hill’s throw. “We were able to overcome because of the shear determination of our kids and the toughness factor we’ve been talking about since August.”
The momentum shift continued Brownwood’s way before the inning was over as Stephenville third baseman Mason Weyers was ejected after arguing with the home plate umpire whether he was hit, or the ball contacted the bat, on two consecutive pitches. Stephenville coach Justin Swenson was also tossed from the game.
Then, in the bottom of the fourth, the Lions finally lit up the scoreboard as Brandstetter singled to right-center field and an error in the outfield allowed him to reach third base. Brandstetter later scored on an RBI ground out by Posey, which brought the Lions within 3-1.
In other District 6-4A action Tuesday, Glen Rose hammered Graham, 10-1. Graham (11-11-1, 4-5) in is third place, Glen Rose (15-11, 2-5) jumped up to fourth place, and Mineral Wells (5-13-1, 2-6) – which has its district bye this week – now stands in fifth place in the league standings.