Sophomore Lyne delivers strong start as London takes series lead on Bishop

In a big spot, against a team that had late-season success against London, the Pirates turned to sophomore right-handed pitcher Blayne Lyne in Game 1 of the Region IV-3A baseball final series at Cabaniss Baseball Field.

And the towering hurler delivered.

Lyne struck out 11 batters over 5.2 innings, allowing one run on three hits as the Pirates won 3-1 to take the series lead on district rival Bishop in the best-of-three series.

The lanky sophomore struck out the side in the first inning, including two looking to set the tone for both his night and the team's.

"That first inning was huge," Lyne said. "Momentum is huge for us. That first inning I struck out the side and I knew our sticks were going to come up and our offense was going to do good for us. Those three strikeouts, and whenever I show emotion, I think hypes the whole team up."

Bishop did not have its first baserunner until the third, while London made Badgers starter Brian Buchanan work most of the night.

The damage, however, was limited to the third inning.

London's No. 9 hitter Jacob Gonzalez opened the frame with a double and Kade Budd brought him home with a single up the middle.

Mason Jacob gave the Pirates another baserunner before catcher Jayden Martinez cranked cranked a two-run single to give Lyne a 3-0 cushion to work with.

"That was a great inning on our part, and people were coming through in the clutch," London coach Albert Amaya said. "We got a hit when we needed and those three runs in that inning helped out our pitching big time."

Bishop was poised to answer right back as the first three batters of the fourth reached on a walk to Tye Odom and consecutive single from Buchanan and Manny Pina plated one run.

But London's Landon Salinas made one of several strong grabs at first base, turning a lasered shot off Ruben Rendon's bat into an unassisted double play.

The Badgers only other real threat came in in the sixth when a single and a walk gave Bishop two on with two out. When Lyne fell behind Taylor Crozier 2-0, the London coaching staff decided to bring in freshman Ethan Ortega in the middle of the at-bat.

Ortega not only got London out of the jam, but struck out three of the four batters he faced to earn a save.

"He is one of our best pitchers," Amaya said. "At this point of the season, he is not a freshman any longer. He has been in big situations all year long. Coach (Kevin) Carr and coach Salinas made that decision to bring him in in a 2-0 count and it worked out fine for us."

Bishop head coach Mike Medina said the Badgers need to do a better job at the plate in Game 2.

"We're going to have to put the ball in play," Medina said. "We're going to have to take better swings. Hunt pitches.

"We were very defensive today. When you have dominating pitching on that side, you can't come out afraid and we were overmatched today."

HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL

Class 3A Regional Finals

Game 1

LONDON 3, BISHOP 1

Thursday's highlights: Bishop vs. London

London turned to sophomore righty Blayne Lyne in Game 1 and he delivered with 11 strikeouts over 5.2 innings, yielding three hits and one run. Lyne struck out the side in the first inning, setting the tone against the Badgers hitters. London broke through in the third inning when Jacob Gonzalez opened the frame with a double and was brought home by Kade Budd. Jayden Martinez had a key two-run single to give Lyne and the pirates a 3-0 advantage. Manny Pina answered with an RBI in the top of the fourth, but London escaped further damage on an unassisted double play turned by Landon Salinas. London freshman Ethan Ortega came in in the middle of an at-bat trailing 2-0 and battled back for a strike out, eventually earning a four-out save for the Pirates.

Thursday's stars

Lyne and Ortega combined for 14 strikeouts for London against Bishop. Pina was 1 for 2 with an RBI for the Badgers. Buchanan had five strikeouts over seven innings and held the Pirates off the scoreboard in six of the seven frames. Budd reached all three times he came to the plate, including an RBI single. Mason Jacob added two hits for the Pirates.

They said it

London coach Albert Amaya on taking a 1-0 series lead: "It gives us momentum going into tomorrow, but by no means do we think this series is over. They can turn it around in one game and we know that."

Bishop coach Mike Medina on Game 1: "We got totally dominated from an offensive standpoint. Pitcher came out and threw strikes and wasn't afraid of any hitters and just filled it up. Inability to put the ball in play, inability to have effort, inability to compete in every phase of the game. I have to do a better job of getting my team to compete and show up and we just didn't show up today."

London pitcher Blayne Lyne on being up 1-0 in the series: "Being up 1-0 is huge for momentum, but the job is not finished at the end of the day. There's still another game on the schedule. Friday we have our ace on the mound and I know he will do his job."

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Blayne Lyne's strong start leads London past Bishop in Game 1