Randall beats Canyon to take 4-4A lead
An obvious trend continued among the Canyon ISD teams Tuesday afternoon at Conner Park when Canyon hosted Randall, and it bodes well for the rest of District 4-4A play, at least as far as local entertainment.
Canyon and Randall finished the official CISD trifecta to open district, and gave fans their money’s worth as expected. Then again, would anybody expect anything less from these two established contenders who both won one-run walk-off games against second-year CISD program West Plains last week?
It came down, unsurprisingly, to the final inning with Randall and Canyon tied going into the seventh. Randall’s Carson Haffner hit a sinking double to left field to drive home Kaison Benton with the go-ahead run, then pitched the bottom of the inning to close out a complete-game win and give the Raiders a 3-2 victory.
With the win, Randall took sole possession of the district lead at 3-0 and improved to 9-10 on the season, a sign that the Raiders are starting to hit their stride when it counts.
“Carson obviously gave us a great outing on the mound,” said first-year Randall coach Brad Propst, who has yet to suffer a district loss. “It’s good to win ball games like that after struggling a little bit in the preseason. We’ve found our identity. We’re a gritty and tough group who believes and I can’t be more proud of them.”
Nothing has come easy for the CISD teams when they’ve played each other, at least at the plate. Canyon (13-4-1, 2-1) beat West Plains 4-3 to open district play last Thursday, and one day later, Randall beat the Wolves 3-2 in eight innings. The Raiders and Eagles staged a similar game with each other, if only slightly less dramatic.
The two teams combined for 12 hits and were scoreless for three innings with Haffner and Canyon starter Colt Cruth matching zeros. Canyon got on the board first when Sam Johnson’s single drove home Carson Allen for a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth.
Randall took the lead with a pair of unearned runs in the top of the fifth off Canyon reliever Christian McGuire for a 2-1 lead. But McGuire would score the tying run in the bottom of the sixth on Johnson’s RBI double to make it 2-2.
Haffner hit a low liner to right on a 1-1 pitch which Canyon’s Aiden Allen couldn’t quite come up with, and it got past him, allowing Benton to score.
“Bayler gassed it up and threw it past me up in the zone and I couldn’t catch up to that,” Haffner said. “I took the next one and then the following pitch he left it a little bit lower and I caught a barrel on it. I was super pumped to help my team out like that.”
It was then up to Haffner to finish it off in the bottom of the seventh. Canyon’s Rece Davis led off the inning with a single, went to second on Schilling’s sacrifice, then to third on a groundout to first by Aidan Gutierrez.
However, Haffner slammed the door by striking out pinch-hitter Jacob Avent on three pitches. It concluded a game where Haffner gave up five hits, struck out seven and walked only one.
“That’s a great team and you have to be very careful because one through nine can hammer you,” said Haffner of the Eagles. “Coming into the game my game plan was to fill up the zone and make them get themselves out because my defense makes plays for me.”
Canyon also got another solid pitching performance which was good enough to win. It just wasn’t on this day.
“This district is tough and I knew it would be,” Canyon coach John Doan said. “There’s no days off. The game just didn’t go our way today. I think we played a good game but we could have done a couple of things different.”
West Plains beats Hereford for first 4-4A win
After those two close losses to their CISD rivals, the West Plains Wolves pulled out a big district win in their 4-4A home opener.
Facing unbeaten Hereford, the Wolves didn’t have to endure any tough late-game dramatics, as they score two runs each in the fourth and fifth for a cushion for a 7-2 victory and keep themselves in the district playoff conversation.
West Plains (14-5, 1-2) never trailed against Hereford (12-4, 2-1), taking a 2-0 lead in the first. Johnie Gifford had the big game at the plate for the Wolves, going 3-for-3 with two home runs and four RBIs to pace the Wolves. Jeremiah Gutierrez pitched four innings to pick up the win while Bryton Bertrand threw the final three for the save.
Pampa beats Borger for first district win
Pampa got in the win column at home, as the Harvesters beat Borger 6-3 in a battle between two teams looking for their first district wins.
The Harvesters (5-9, 1-2) fell behind 1-0 after the top of the first, but they scored two in the bottom of the inning to take the lead for good. Pampa took advantage of four Borger errors.
Brooks Barton was dominant on the mound for the Harvesters, striking out 10 in only five innings. Isaiah Estrada pitched the final two scoreless innings to pick up the save.
Borger fell to 4-10-1 and 0-3.
In the other district game, Dumas kept Perryton from tying Randall for the district lead with an 8-7 victory. The Demons (5-12, 1-2) rallied from a 7-0 deficit to pick up the win.
Perryton fell to 7-13 and 2-1
District 3-5A
Tascosa rolls over Palo Duro
The Tascosa Rebels moved above .500 in district play with a decisive 7-1 win at Palo Duro.
Tascosa (5-12, 2-1) took an early lead with two runs in the first and coasted the rest of the way.
Andrew Merrell had three hits and scored three runs to lead the Rebels at the plate. Kyle Westenburg had two hits and drove in two runs and Charlie McKinney had two hits and scored two runs.
Pitchers Holden True and Jacob Cunningham combined to hold Palo Duro (3-15, 0-2) to one run.
In the district’s other game, Plainview beat Caprock 9-3 and is now tied with Amarillo High for the district lead at 2-0. Amarillo High had the district’s open date.
District 1-2A
Gruver, West Texas High and Sunray all win
Gruver, Sunray and West Texas High all brought home victories during district play on Tuesday afternoon.
The Greyhounds made quick work of Boys Ranch getting an 18-0 run-rule win at home.
Kip Pittman went 3-for-3 to lead the Greyhounds including a double and a triple driving in a pair of RBIs.
The Greyhounds are now 6-4 overall and 2-1 in District 1-2A. Boys Ranch drops to 0-5 overall and 0-2 in the league.
Sunray held off a challenge from Booker for a 4-1 victory.
The Bobcats (7-3 overall) remain perfect in district at 3-0. Booker is now 3-1 overall and 1-1 in district.
Arnold Mendoza was 3-for-4 at the dish with a double and an RBI. Bobcat pitcher Azriel Vargas was dialed in going 6.2 innings allowing only two hits, one earned run with seven K’s for the win.
West Texas High earned a district win by going on the road and downing Follett 10-6.
The Comanches are 6-6 overall and 2-1 in District 1-2A. Follett falls to 0-3 overall and in the league.
Brodey Stone led WT High going 3-for-4 with two RBIs.
District 2-2A
Clarendon and Nazareth get district opening wins
Clarendon and Nazareth opened District 2-2A in style on Monday and Tuesday.
The Broncos had no issue starting district by blanking Shamrock 10-0. Harrison Howard provided the pop with a three-run home run and Jared Musick was lights out on the bump tossing five no-hit innings racking up an impressive 12 strikeouts.
Clarendon is off to a 6-1-2 start to the year and are now 1-0 in district. The Irish are 0-3 overall and 0-1 in the league.
Nazareth, which is back-to-back Region I champions, opened district with a 10-4 victory against Claude on Monday.
The Swifts are 4-3 to open the year and 1-0 in district action. Claude falls to 7-4-1 overall and 0-1 in district.
Will Young had a huge game going a perfect 3-for-3 including a homer, a double, finishing the contest with a pair of RBIs.
In the other district clash, Kress beat Valley 9-3. Wellington and Memphis were postponed and moved to Friday due to an umpire shortage.
