There are still two games left in the regular season, but a lot of arguments in District 4-4A and Canyon ISD look like they were settled Friday afternoon.
While it wasn’t officially a district championship game, the second meeting of the season between Canyon and West Plains at Double Eagle Park in Canyon had obvious postseason implications, not to mention CISD bragging rights. The two teams entered the game tied for the district lead and the winner would have the inside track to the district title.
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When it was over, it actually repeated a lot of recent history, which worked out for Canyon. The Eagles completed a season sweep of West Plains and took sole possession of the 4-4A lead, jumping on top early and holding on for a 10-6 victory.
Canyon (21-6-1, 11-1 in district) has now won 10 straight and has clinched the district’s No. 1 seed in the Division II playoff bracket. The Eagles now have to win just one of their final two games next week to clinch no worse than a share of the district title.
It was a different method of victory than the Eagles managed in their first win over West Plains (21-7, 10-2), as Canyon won that first meeting 4-3 on the road. That certainly didn’t hurt the Eagles in the rematch.
“Confidence is the key in anything, especially in baseball because things can be so negative,” Canyon coach Jed Anderson said. “Our kids are enjoying it and feeling confident in themselves and that’s a good thing to have.”
Unlike the first meeting of the season between the two teams, Canyon never trailed. West Plains answered a Canyon run in the bottom of the first with one in the top of the second to tie it 1-1, but that was as good as it got for the Wolves.
Canyon mounted a two-out rally in the bottom of the second against West Plains starter Reid Macon to take control of the game. It happened when No. 9 hitter and starting pitcher Bayler Schilling, a hero in the first meeting, drew a walk on four pitches to keep the inning alive.
Leadoff hitter Carson Allen followed with the biggest hit of the day in more ways than one. Into the teeth of a wind from the south, the left-handed hitting Allen drilled a Macon pitch over the right field fence for a two-run home run to give the Eagles a 3-1 lead they never relinquished.
That was the highlight of the day for Allen, who went 3-for-4 and scored two runs, falling a double short of the cycle.
“The wind is always blowing in and sometimes you have to try to outpower the wind and I struck it good,” Allen said. “I did feel like that was a big part of this game to set the tone. Usually I kind of second guess myself on those but I got all of it.”
The Eagles seemed to find hitting contagious after Allen’s blast. Andrew Bellino followed with a double to left and scored on Levi Turner’s single to left. Jake Doak then drove home Turner with another double to left and Canyon had a comfortable 5-1 cushion after two innings.
In the third, Braden Cooper tripled to left with one out and scored on Reece Baca’s double to left-center, to make it 6-1. That forced Macon from the mound, and Canyon led 7-1 at the end of the inning, symbolizing the huge hill the Wolves had to overcome.
“You have to tip your hat to (the Eagles), they played well,” West Plains coach Colby Chandler said. “They came out and swung the bats as good as I’ve seen them all year long. Ultimately it comes down to we didn’t match that early and we kind of waited too late to do that. We threw strikes and (Canyon) hit the ball.”
On the mound, the Eagles reverted to a familiar formula starting with Schilling. The senior right-hander beat the Wolves in their first meeting in which he also hit a game-tying two-run homer.
Schilling wasn’t dominant in the rematch, but he kept West Plains off-balance, giving up three hits and two runs in four innings. He gave way to Brixton Lindley to start the fifth, and Lindley had a three-inning save in the first meeting between the two teams.
“It’s a really good lineup and one through nine they can all swing it really well,” said Anderson of the West Plains hitters. “I felt our kids did a good job on the mound with a tight strike zone and came through in the clutch.”
Canyon got what turned out to be some key insurance with three runs in the bottom of the sixth off West Plains reliever Noah Vasquez, pushing across runs on a groundout, a sacrifice fly and a wild pitch to take a 10-3 lead.
That looked like enough for Lindley to cruise to his second save of the season against the Wolves. However, West Plains got a two-out rally going in the top of the seventh, as Elijah Vasquez drove home a run with a double. Lindley then walked the bases full, and was denied a chance to pick up a save when Keegan McCulloch relieved him.
Boston Ladd lined a double to right to bring home two runs and cut it to 10-6, putting the tying run on deck. On the next pitch, though, McCulloch got Macon to line out softly to second to preserve the win.
“I challenged them going into the last inning,” Chandler said. “We spotted (Canyon) three runs which made it a really different game down the stretch. We didn’t make some plays in the field but I was very proud of the fight at the end.”
At the end, though, it was the Eagles who maintained CISD bragging rights and controlled their destiny for an outright 4-4A championship.
“I think whether it’s Randall or West Plains it’s an intra-district rivalry where we really want to play well every time we get out there,” Anderson said. “That’s the bottom line. We just want to put our best game together.”