Wall rallies past Jim Ned for District 6-3A baseball championship

Charles Bryce, San Angelo Standard-Times
·3 min read
Jim Ned High School's Luke Vinson gets thrown out at second base as Wall's Augden Hallmark tags him during the District 6-3A championship at Angelo State University's Foster Field at 1st Community Credit Union Stadium on Monday, May 2, 2022.
Jim Ned High School's Luke Vinson gets thrown out at second base as Wall's Augden Hallmark tags him during the District 6-3A championship at Angelo State University's Foster Field at 1st Community Credit Union Stadium on Monday, May 2, 2022.

Sparked by an eight-run outburst in the sixth inning, the No. 10-ranked Wall High School baseball team rallied to beat No. 5 Jim Ned 10-3 to secure the District 6-3A championship Monday night at Angelo State University's Foster Field at 1st Community Credit Union Field.

Wall finished the regular season at 22-6 overall and 14-1 in district. The Hawks will face Stanton in a best-of-three games bidistrict playoff series. Game 1 will be 4 p.m. Thursday at Abilene Christian's Crutcher Scott Field, followed 30 minutes later by Game 2. Game 3, if necessary, will be at noon Saturday at Stanton.

Jim Ned dropped to 22-3 and 13-2. Two of the three losses have been against Wall. The Indians will take on Sonora in bidistrict. Game 1 will be at 5 p.m. Friday at Coahoma High School, followed 30 minutes later by Game 2. Game 3, if necessary, will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Coahoma.

Jim Ned High School's Blaine Palmer goes through his delivery during the District 6-3A championship against Wall at Angelo State University's Foster Field at 1st Community Credit Union Stadium on Monday, May 2, 2022.
Jim Ned High School's Blaine Palmer goes through his delivery during the District 6-3A championship against Wall at Angelo State University's Foster Field at 1st Community Credit Union Stadium on Monday, May 2, 2022.

The Indians played small ball Monday and took a 3-1 lead in the second inning.

Wall pulled within in the fourth before taking advantage of a slew of errors by the Indians and a hit batsman with the bases loaded in the sixth.

"Our kids competed well and tip your hat to (Jim Ned starter Blaine) Palmer," Wall head coach Jason Schniers said. "Every time we've faced him, he's a strikeout pitcher and he commands the zone and competes really well. Fortunately for us, he got to a pitch count where they felt like they needed him for the end of the week and when that happened, our guys took advantage of it.

Wall High School's Gunnar Dillard makes contact on a pitch during the District 6-3A championship against Jim Ned at Angelo State University's Foster Field at 1st Community Credit Union Stadium on Monday, May 2, 2022.
Wall High School's Gunnar Dillard makes contact on a pitch during the District 6-3A championship against Jim Ned at Angelo State University's Foster Field at 1st Community Credit Union Stadium on Monday, May 2, 2022.

"I'm super proud of our guys for that (eighth) inning right there and competing with two outs. The kids dug deep and they've been doing that for the last month and a half. We've been finding ways to win close ball games and even games when they're not as close. They're doing everything we need to do to win games."

Kelton Bowman went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and one run scored for the Hawks.

Gunnar Dillard, Hutson Teplicek and Augden Hallmark drove in one run each for Wall.

Wall starter Nathan Pepper got the win. He gave up three hits and three runs, two of which were earned, in six complete. He struck out four and walked two.

Closer Matt Steen came on in the seventh to close things out.

Wall High School head baseball coach Jason Schniers has a meeting on the mound with the Hawks during the District 6-3A championship against Jim Ned at Angelo State University's Foster Field at 1st Community Credit Union Stadium on Monday, May 2, 2022.
Wall High School head baseball coach Jason Schniers has a meeting on the mound with the Hawks during the District 6-3A championship against Jim Ned at Angelo State University's Foster Field at 1st Community Credit Union Stadium on Monday, May 2, 2022.

Cooper Mascorro had a team-high two RBIs for Jim Ned. Kade Frazier drove in the Indians' other run.

Palmer went 5.1 innings and chalked up 13 strikeouts against two walks. He gave up just two hits and three runs, two earned.

Indians middle reliever Troy Doran gave up two hits and six runs, including four earned, in just one-third of an inning.

Jim Ned closer Luke Vinson also pitched a third of an inning and gave up one unearned run.

Wall High School's Nathan Pepper fires a pitch during the District 6-3A championship against Jim Ned at Angelo State University's Foster Field at 1st Community Credit Union Stadium on Monday, May 2, 2022.
Wall High School's Nathan Pepper fires a pitch during the District 6-3A championship against Jim Ned at Angelo State University's Foster Field at 1st Community Credit Union Stadium on Monday, May 2, 2022.

It was an uncharacteristic performance by the Indians, who commited five costly errors and two passed balls.

"They just whipped our butt," Jim Ned head coach Ryan Lewis said. "We beat ourselves and tip your hat to them because they stayed after it. We just didn't play well enough and you can't do that against a good team."

The Hawks finished with five hits and held the Indians to three.

Wall committed just one error.

There was a famous face in the crowd -- country music singer Aaron Watson.

No. 10 Wall 10, No. 5 Jim Ned 3

District 6-3A championship

Jim Ned 030 000 0--3 3 5

Wall 100 108 x--10 5 1

Nathan Pepper, Matt Steen (7) and Will Scherr. Blaine Palmer, Troy Doran (6), Luke Vinson (6) and Braden Lewis. WP -- Pepper. LP -- Doran. 3B -- Wall: Kelton Bowman. 2B -- Wall: Dylan Gidney. Records -- Wall finished the regular season 22-6 overall and 14-1 in District 6-3A, Jim Ned finished the regular season 22-3 and 13-2.

Charles Bryce is a journalist covering sports in West Texas. Send him a news tip at cbryce@gannett.com. Consider supporting West Texas journalism with a subscription to GoSanAngelo.com.

Jim Ned High School's Troy Doran hits a pitch during the District 6-3A championship against Wall at Angelo State University's Foster Field at 1st Community Credit Union Stadium on Monday, May 2, 2022.
Jim Ned High School's Troy Doran hits a pitch during the District 6-3A championship against Wall at Angelo State University's Foster Field at 1st Community Credit Union Stadium on Monday, May 2, 2022.

This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Wall rallies past Jim Ned for District 6-3A baseball championship