Canyon, West Plains end week with big wins, still share lead
After Friday afternoon, the district standings to start the second half of play were just like they were to end the first half.
Canyon and West Plains opened the second half of district play with a pair of decisive road wins to affirm their status as district co-leaders with the second half now underway. The CISD schools hold a two-game advantage over the rest of the district with six games remaining.
West Plains had the tougher time, as the Wolves avoided falling into second place by rallying for six runs in the top of the seventh to beat Hereford. Canyon had far less trouble, rolling to a 16-3 run-rule win in six innings at Perryton.
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For five innings, West Plains (18-6, 7-1) and Hereford (11-11, 5-3) were involved in a pitchers’ duel. Hereford took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth on Ethan Subealdea’s RBI single. The Wolves then tied in in the top of the sixth when Kade Schneider drove in a run with a single.
Subealdea started the seventh on the mound for Hereford but couldn’t retire any of the first six hitters he faced. West Plains took advantage of two errors to take the lead before Boston Ladd’s two-run double made the score 6-2 and knocked out Subealdea.
Ladd and Schneider both drove in two runs for West Plains.
Noah Vasquez got the win on the mound for the Wolves, throwing 2 1/3 scoreless innings. Reid Macon pitched the first 4 2/3 innings and was on the hook for the loss before the Wolves rallied.
Canyon (17-6-1, 7-1) never trailed against Perryton (5-16, 1-7) in staying tied for the district lead. It was only 5-2 after four innings, but the Eagles scored 11 runs in the next two innings to attain the run-rule margin.
The Eagles pounded out 19 hits as every Canyon starter had at least one hit. Tanner Snider had three hits while seven other batters had two hits, and Andrew Bellino had two hits and drove in three runs.
In what was the surprise of the day Friday, Randall’s bats couldn’t get started against Dumas and the Raiders lost 4-0 at home. The Raiders (12-11-1, 5-3) remained tied for third with Hereford in the district, but they would have had it all to themselves with a win.
Randall right-hander John Noriega and Dumas left-hander Blake Robinson both had impressive starts as both went into the seventh inning. The difference was that the Demons (7-14-1, 2-6) scratched out two runs each with the bottom third of their lineup in the third and fifth thanks to a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly in each inning.
That was more than enough support for Robinson, who didn’t record the final two outs only because he’d reached the 110-pitch limit. Robinson gave up only two hits and struck out eight in 6 1/3 innings as Randall only advanced a runner to third once.
Noriega deserved better than the fate he got. He barely cracked 90 pitches and gave up only four hits while striking out eight.
District 3-5A
Amarillo High keeps 3-5A lead
In establishing who are the contenders and who’s in the rest of the pack in District 3-5A, Amarillo High and Lubbock Monterey separated themselves from the district this week.
Those two schools both faced schools from the other prominent towns in the district and both made emphatic statements that they are the teams to beat in 3-5A right now.
Amarillo High came into district in sole possession of the district lead and made sure to leave the week keeping it in no uncertain terms. The Sandies scored a pair of 10-run mercy rule wins over Lubbock High, winning 10-0 in five innings Tuesday and 11-0 in six innings Thursday to stay a game ahead of Monterey in the district standings.
Monterey moved into sole possession of second place by sweeping Tascosa, winning 6-1 on Tuesday and 10-2 on Thursday.
Amarillo High (23-3, 9-1 in district) never really let Lubbock (6-17, 3-5) get all that close in either game. The Sandies got all the runs they needed in the bottom of the first Tuesday when Talon Jones tripled home a run and later scored on a groundout for a 2-0 lead.
They capped the win by attaining the 10-run margin in the bottom of the fifth on Ian Herrick’s two-run single. It was a big game for Herrick, who was 3-for- 3 and drove in five runs.
Tate Blackwell went five innings on the mound for the Sandies, giving up only three hits.
It was more of the same when the series moved south to Lubbock on Thursday, only it took an inning longer. After three scoreless innings, Easton Glass stole home on a double steal in the top of the fourth to give the Sandies all they needed.
Amarillo High scored five runs apiece in the fifth and sixth for the run rule. Blackwell, who had two hits and drove in five runs, hit a three-run inside the park homer in the sixth to give the Sandies their 10-run cushion.
Taegen Tate went six innings on the mound for the win, giving up three hits and striking out 10.
Tascosa (15-10 4-4) gave Monterey (16-9-1, 8-2) a much tougher time than Lubbock did Amarillo High, but go no better results.
In Tuesday’s game in Lubbock, Tascosa got on the board in the top of the first on Braeden Lineman’s sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead. That was it offensively for the Rebels, though.
The Plainsmen got all their runs in the bottom of the fifth, taking the lead on Lincoln Lamm’s three-run double.
Thursday in Lubbock, Monterey put the game away with five runs in the top of the fifth to go up 9-1. Lamm and Dyson Quigly both hit two-run home runs that inning.
District 1-3A
Bushland, Tulia remain tied for lead
The top two teams in the district continued to separate themselves from the pack as Bushland and Tulia both ended the week with wins to stay tied for the district lead.
Bushland briefly took a half-game lead Thursday by routing Childress 12-1 in a five-inning run-rule win at home. Tulia responded Friday by beating Dalhart 9-6 in eight innings to keep pace.
Thursday, Bushland (17-5, 7-1) dominated Childress (6-15, 3-5) from the outset. The Falcons scored five runs in the bottom of the second to take a 7-0 lead and control of the game.
The big hits in the second were Wade McConnell’s two-run double followed by Hunter Kissane’s two-run homer. Bushland got the run-rule margin in the fourth after Childress walked in a pair of runs.
Lincoln Krause got the win on the mound for Bushland, giving up four hits and striking out eight.
Tulia (13-5, 7-1) needed extra duty to get past Dalhart (6-10, 3-5). The Hornets scored three runs in the top of the eighth without benefit of a hit.
Dalhart did pick up a win earlier in the week downing Childress 11-3. In that game, Hunter Trusler went 4-for-5 with a double, a triple to total three RBIs. He also threw three shutout innings on the mound with four K’s.
District 1-2A
Gruver stays unbeaten in league play
Through the first two weeks of district play, the Gruver Greyhounds have picked up where their football and basketball teams left off. Gruver made it a sweep of Sanford-Fritch this past week beating the Eagles 7-2 on Tuesday followed by a 12-0 shutout of Fritch on Friday.
The Greyhounds have taken the outright lead in 1-2A with a 4-0 mark and are 7-1 on the season.
On Tuesday against Fritch, Jett Pittman handcuffed the Eagles throwing six innings allowing just one hit, one earned run and racked up nine strikeouts to get the win. On Friday, Brock Butler delivered a two-run home run on a 2-for-3 day at the dish.
West Texas High was able to salvage a split with Sunray in the other district matchup. Sunray opened the district schedule with a 10-0 blanking of the Comanches on Tuesday, however, WT High bounced back for an 11-8 victory at Sunray on Friday. The Comanches are now 2-2 in district and 7-7 on the season. Sunray is 1-1 in the league and 8-3 overall.
During Tuesday’s game, Parker Johnson threw four shutout innings for Sunray with five K’s and Angel Vargas drove in four runs. On Friday, WT High posted a four-run seventh inning to rally back for the win. Cash Fulton was 1-for-4 with a pair of RBIs and pitched the final two innings allowing two runs but did have four strikeouts.
In District 2-2A, Wellington picked up a district win beating Clarendon 7-4 on Friday. The Skyrockets currently sit at 3-1 in the league and 5-1 on the year. Alex Orozco led Wellington throwing 6.2 innings without allowing an earned run with 15 strikeouts. He was also 3-for-4 at the dish with an RBI.
In District 3-1A, the Nazareth Swifts have opened up hot. Nazareth pummeled 13-3 on Tuesday, improving to 4-4 overall and 2-0 in district action. Fletcher Schacher went 2-for-3 including a three-run homer and Breck Proctor was 2-for-4 with three RBIs to lead the Swifts.