District 4-4A
Pampa has gotten hot at the right time and are back in the mix when it comes to a District 4-4A playoff spot.
The Harvesters broke a tie game in the bottom of the sixth inning and were able to hold on for a 5-4 victory beating Perryton at home Friday afternoon.
Pampa (13-8-1) has won three straight league games pushing its record to 6-4 in 4-4A with four games to play. The Harvesters held a 4-2 lead before the Rangers tied it up, 4-4, pushing across two runs in the top of the sixth. In the home half of the inning, Jarren Hill was able to score the go-ahead and eventual game-winning run on the ever exciting balk.
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Hill was 2-for-4 on the day with an RBI. Max Neff also drove in a run on a 1-for-3 outing. Brooks Barton was solid on the mound going five innings allowing two runs but did have 10 strikeouts.
A pair of Canyon ISD schools were still tied for the district lead at the end of the week.
West Plains and Canyon are both still in first in the district three game ahead of everybody else after Friday’s results. In another matchup between CISD teams, West Plains edged Randall 4-3, and Canyon shut out Dumas 6-0.
At West Plains (19-5-1, 9-1), the Wolves fell behind Randall (14-9-1, 5-5) 3-0 after five innings. However, West Plains rallied in the final two innings.
The Wolves tied it in the sixth when Reid Macon singled home a run and another one scored on an error to make it 3-2, then Macon scored on Kaiden Dorman’s single. With the bases loaded and one out in the seventh, Randall’s Brae Silva hit Alaki Carrillo with a pitch to force home the winning run for West Plains.
Canyon (21-3, 9-1) didn’t have nearly as dramatic a time in beating Dumas. Zabien Urteaga threw a two-hit shutout and drove in two runs as the Eagles scored two runs in the third and never trailed.
District 3-5A
The Amarillo High Sandies had to be thrilled that a long week ended at home Saturday afternoon.
That happiness had mainly to do with how well prepared the week could make them for other long weeks ahead of them.
Thanks to the unpredictable Panhandle weather, Amarillo High had to play four District 3-5A games this week between Monday and Saturday, not the usual kind of schedule for district play. However, the Sandies came out in perfect shape, maybe better than they’ve ever been this season.
They maintained their status atop the district by going 4-0 during the week, appropriately capping things by beating Lubbock Monterey 10-0 on Saturday afternoon at Sandie Field, invoking the 10-run mercy rule in six innings. Amarillo High (20-7-1, 13-1 in district) had already clinched a playoff spot back on Tuesday, beating Tascosa 15-2 in another run-rule victory.
“This was a grueling week just playing four baseball games being off schedule a little bit,” AHS coach Randon Johnson said. “I really like how our guys responded to playing the late game in Lubbock then getting on the bus and coming out here today at 1 p.m. It really felt like it was a precursor to the playoff format and they did a great job handling it.”
Friday evening, Amarillo High and Monterey (5-20-1, 3-9) squared off in Lubbock in a different kind of game and the Sandies won an 11-8 slugfest. Had the games been a playoff series, Amarillo High would have pulled off a sweep.
The Sandies certainly appear to have the kind of pitching to succeed in a three-game series, mainly because they have left-hander Clayton Norrell on their side. Norrell notched a pair of victories to bookend the week, not giving up anything in the process.
After posting a dominant 7-0 victory over Tascosa at Sandie Field on Monday, Norrell returned to the scene of the crime Saturday and did pretty much the same thing against the Plainsmen. Norrell ran his scoreless streak for the week to 11 innings, shutting out Monterey for four innings and giving up three hits and no walks.
“We beat a rival in Tascosa then beat a Monterey team who eliminated us from the playoffs last year so we had a great week,” Norrell said. “Every outing you go out there and try to compete and throw strikes to lift up your teammates. The change-up has kind of been the best pitch the whole season. It’s almost like the playoffs playing a night game then playing at 1 the next afternoon.”
Norrell got a cushion to work with early, as Amarillo High’s first five batters of the game reached against Monterey starter R.J. Laurent. The Sandies got all the offense they needed when Austin Sluder worked the count full and belted a two-run triple to left field which got the Sandies on the scoreboard.
Amarillo High was more resourceful than overwhelming at the plate, collecting only six hits but taking advantage of four hit batters and six walks. A snapshot of what they did on the afternoon came in the bottom of the second, when with the bases loaded, Gabriel Ortiz hit a sacrifice fly to deep right field which not only scored the runner from third, but also courtesy runner Talon Jones from second to make it 8-0.
The Sandies led 9-0 after four, but with two outs and none on in the bottom of the sixth, it looked like they would at the very least have to go to the seventh inning. However, Monterey’s Landon Hiebert hit pinch hitter Luis Meraz with a pitch and Jayden Cedillo drew a walk.
That brought up another hitter up for the first time, Ian Herrick, who came in to play third base in the top of the inning. Herrick singled the other way to right field, bringing home Meraz and ending the game early.
“You can see in the dugout we’ve got a lot of guys over there and they’re all waiting for their opportunity,” Johnson said. “Ian did a great job and the plate in the top of the inning fielded the last out so I commend him on his preparation.”
With teams facing each other twice a week in the nine-team district, Amarillo High will draw the open week next week and not return to district action until the final week of April with two games against Lubbock-Cooper, who’s tied for second place.
Not only could those two games decide a district championship, they’ll five the Sandies an idea of what to expect in the postseason.
“I think the biggest thing is to get a little rest,” Johnson said. “We’ve had a hectic schedule but we want to keep playing well. It’s an opportunity to clean up some things and it turns into staying sharp.”
Friday, the Sandies scored seven runs in the top of the third inning to take the lead and held on the rest of the way. Sluder had three hits and drove in two runs as Amarillo High survived seven errors.
In other district action, Tascosa lost twice to Cooper as the Rebels saw their playoff hopes diminish. Cooper beat Tascosa (12-10, 5-7) 7-1 and 6-4 as the Rebels are now in sixth place, two games out of a playoff berth with four games left.
Palo Duro and Caprock are both officially out of the playoff picture after suffering a pair of losses Friday and Saturday. Palo Duro (8-16, 1-11) lost to Lubbock High 11-0 and 9-2, and Caprock (1-25, 1-13) fell to Lubbock Coronado 13-2 and 17-0.
District 1-3A
Having already clinched a playoff spot didn’t slow down Bushland on Friday, as the Falcons had their way completely with River Road, scoring 19 runs in the top of the second as the impetus for a 34-2 road victory.
Bushland (12-9, 7-1) had eight players collect at least two hits en route to pounding River Road for 26 hits. Ty Haskins and Lincoln Krause both drove in five runs and Colton Strickland, Wade McConnell and Elliott Hemphill all drove in four. Hemphill went 5-for-5.
Dalhart held off a late surge from Childress to get a wild 14-13 home victory on Friday. The Golden Wolves attacked the Bobcats fast scoring all 14 runs in the first four innings. Hunter Trusler had a huge day going 3-for-4 with a homer, a double and drove in a team-high five RBIs. Kreed Hines followed with a perfect 4-for-4 day at the dish with a double and four RBIs.
Dalhart is now 9-8 overall and in second place in 1-3A at 6-2. Childress (10-9-1) falls to 4-4 in the league.
District 1-2A
Gruver has taken complete control of District 1-2A while staying unbeaten in the process after getting a second win over rival Sunray in the past three days. The Greyhounds defeated the Bobcats 10-7 at home Tuesday, and then picked up the series sweep with a hard fought 4-3 victory Friday.
The win pushes the Greyhounds record to a perfect 11-0 and 6-0 in district action. Sunray (8-3) drops to 2-2 in district.
All four of Gruver’s runs came in the top half of the third inning. Trailing 1-0, the Greyhounds were able to take the lead for good on a two-run double from Cohen Jones giving Gruver a 3-1 advantage. Sunray did cut the deficit to 4-3 but that was as close as it came.
Briggs Satterfield went the distance throwing all seven innings allowing one earned run with five K’s to get the win for Gruver. Stephen Cowan added an RBI on a 1-for-4 performance. The
Sanford-Fritch completed the weekly sweep of Highland Park with a 15-0 victory. Brody Brown delivered four shutout innings and sat down eight Hornet hitters. Cash Hays, Kellen Henderson, Paxton Drake and Rocky Ferguson all doubled and drove in runs for Fritch.
Booker’s Chase Nelson was at it once again as the Kiowas beat White Deer 18-1. Nelson (6-1) was dealing on the mound over four innings with 10 strikeouts and hit a two-run home run to lead the way. Booker improves to 10-2 overall and 6-0 in district.
Follett also won once again beating Boys Ranch 15-0.
District 2-2A
Wellington picked up a strong district win by blanking Floydada 6-0 on Friday afternoon. The Skyrockets are 5-1 in the league and 8-6 overall. Jackson Jones doubled and drove in two runs. TJ Salinas was 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Clarendon rallied to beat Memphis 13-12 in a crazy district matchup. The victory pushes the Broncos record to 9-8 overall and 6-1 in district play. The Broncos were able to plate four runs in the bottom of the seventh to complete the comeback. Mason Sims worked two innings of scoreless relief to get the win with four strikeouts. He was also 1-for-5 at the plate and scored two runs.
District 3-2A
Nazareth kept its foot on the gas blowing out Petersburg 16-0 on Friday. Zane Schulte was 3-for-4 four with a double and three RBIs. Schulte also tossed five innings scattering two hits with 12 K’s. Teammate Cameron Pohlmeier went 3-for-3 with a pair of runs driven in. The Swifts are cruising at 11-1 overall and 4-0 in District 3-2A.