H.S. baseball: Bats finally come alive in Abilene Wylie's win over Abilene High
The bats finally came alive for the Wylie baseball team, which had lost four of its past five games.
The Bulldogs pounded 13 hits, including seven in a seven-run third inning, in a 10-4 victory over Abilene High in a District 4-5A game Tuesday at Blackburn Field.
It was a welcome sight for Wylie coach Grant Martin, whose team had scored a combined 10 runs during its past five games. The Bulldogs were held to three hits in a 5-0 loss at Lubbock-Cooper on Friday – their second straight loss.
“We’ve kind of been preaching to them all week that we’ve got to center up the baseball – hit the baseball,” Martin said. “… And, of course, the bats came alive tonight, thank goodness. It’s been a while since we’ve seen them.”
Before the recent scoring woes, Wylie had scored 10 or more runs in four consecutive games to culminate an eight-game win streak.
And unlike the last meeting against the Eagles, when Wylie scored seven runs in the sixth to pull out a 10-4 lead, the Bulldogs got their big inning early to take the drama out of the game.
“That’s something we’ve been missing,” Martin said of the big inning. “We keep telling them, ‘You guys are capable of that.’ We know we can hit the ball. It’s just sometimes baseball is baseball. So, I was really proud of them tonight – game we had to have tonight.”
It was a much-needed lift at an opportune time for the Bulldogs (14-9-1 overall, 8-5 district).
The win, coupled with Lubbock Monterey's 4-3 win over Lubbock Coronado and Abilene Cooper stunning 7-6 win at Lubbock-Cooper, leaves five teams – Abilene High, Wylie, Lubbock-Cooper, Monterey and Coronado – tied for first with 8-5 district records. All with five games remaining.
One of the five will miss the playoffs.
“We’ve talked about how tough this district is,” Martin said. “Each on every night you’ve got to come ready to play. Hopefully our kids learned that tonight against a very, very good team – a scrappy team. They never give up.”
Momentum swings early
Abilene High (11-14, 8-5), which scored two runs in its last at-bat to beat Lubbock-Cooper 6-5 on Thursday, jumped on the Bulldogs early – scoring three runs in the first inning.
Saul Vasquez and Brady Bennett, who had reached on a walk and infield hit, respectively, to open the bottom of the first, scored as Jake Breckenridge reached on a two-out error. Breckenridge, who took second on the error, scored on Casen Kilmer’s two-out single.
Wylie, which left two runners stranded in each of the first two innings, began the hit parade in the third inning – sending 10 batters to the plate.
“The snowball started going downhill, and we couldn’t stop it,” AHS coach Brad Harman said. “Anytime you give up a crooked number like that, it puts you in a bind.”
Tye Briscoe got it started with a two-run double, and he scored on a Hays Sipe single. Collin Bruning and Sam Walker followed with singles, and Sipe scored on Brady Clark’s sacrifice fly. Colby Garrett hit an RBI single, and another run scored on Braden Regala’s fielder’s choice. K.J. Long, who opened the inning with a single, finished it with an RBI single before being thrown out trying to reach second.
“We keep telling them, ‘That stuff is contagious,’” Martin said. “One guy gets a hit, the second guy gets a hit, and it just seems to work out that way. Momentum is big in any sport, but I think in this sport it’s huge. I thought we fed off of that, had a big inning.”
The Eagles got a run back in the fourth on Beckham Paul’s RBI double.
The Bulldogs answered in the fifth with Regala’s two-run, inside-the-park home run on a hard-hit ball in the gap in left center.
Garrett added an RBI double in the seventh for the final run.
“Our kids did a good job staying in it tonight and just keeping the intensity and trying to create pressure. That’s we’ve been telling them – try to put pressure on the defense. We did a better job of that tonight.”
Walker provides strong relief
Walker, who relieved the starter Clark in the second inning, got the win. Walker allowed a run on four hits in six innings. He struck out eight and walked four.
“Sam did a great job,” Martin said. “He’s a bulldog up there – a competitor. He did a great job, I thought, in challenging hitters and making them put balls in play.”
Clark gave up three runs on two hits. He struck out one and walked three.
AHS starter Jamison Castel took the loss – surrendering six runs on six hits in two innings. He walked two. Diego Flores worked the final five innings, allowing four runs on seven hits. He struck out three and walked one.
AHS plays at Abilene Cooper on Friday, while Wylie has a bye before hosting the Cougars on Tuesday.
Up for grabs
Despite the loss, the Eagles are still in contention for the district title and a playoff berth. It’s likely going to go down to the wire despite playing an 18-game round-robin league schedule.
“That’s how this district is going to play out,” Harman said. “… That’s why we preach to our kids one-eighteenth, because you’re not going to see anybody with three, four games left run away with this thing. This thing is going to come down to April 28 (the last night of district), and it may go into April 29th with the tiebreaker situation. That’s why I tell them every game is huge right now.”
Harman gets tossed
Harman was ejected in the top of the sixth inning for arguing a call. Reese Borho was ruled safe on a two-out steal of second with Wylie leading 10-4. It appeared the tag was in time.
Per UIL rules, Harman can accept an automatic public reprimand and one-year probation or challenge the ejection before the State Executive Committee in Austin.
“The call at second, in my opinion, it wasn’t the right call,” he said. “Went out to discuss it. At the end of the day, it was a judgment call, and he made it. There was nothing vulgar. There was nothing profanity-wise.
"He felt like I argued the ball too long, and he made the decision. That’s well within his right to do.”
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Wylie ends hitting woes, beats Abilene High in district baseball game
