Bushland blasts Tulia
Every time it seems like somebody in District 1-3A has a chance to shut down the Bushland Falcons, they find out who is always the team to beat in 1-3A.
Friday afternoon Bushland hosted Tulia as the lone unbeaten team in the district and the Hornets had a record which indicated, at least on paper, that they could challenge the Falcons. For a while, that happened.
However, Bushland broke open what looked like a developing pitchers’ duel, scoring nine runs over the final three innings to cruise to a 10-1 victory which left the Falcons in a familiar position getting a leg up on everybody else in district.
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Bushland is 3-0 in 1-3A and 8-8 overall, sitting in sole possession of the district lead. Until somebody knocks off the Falcons, they’re the prohibitive team to beat.
Tulia (10-4-1, 1-3) still has 12 district games to right the ship and show it can contend. Against Bushland, though, the Hornets weren’t quite that team, although the game was a little closer than the score indicated.
“It was a lot closer than the final score,” Bushland coach Todd Espe said. “The pitcher up on the bump had us off balance a lot of the game throwing a lot of off-speed stuff. We just kept chipping away and found a way.”
The Falcons never trailed, taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI double by Wade McConnell off Tulia starter David Abeyta. It was the first of three doubles for McConnell.
For five innings against Bushland freshman right-hander Lincoln Krause, Tulia managed only three singles by leadoff hitter Jarvis Pastrana and nothing else. Krause otherwise dominated the Hornets, striking out 11 and walking none in 5 1/3 innings before McConnell came on in relief and retired the last five hitters, four of them via strikeout.
“We’ve got a 1-2 combination right there,” Espe said. “Wade could have very easily been starting, but what a great job by a freshman to come in there and throw strikes and not worry about things. We’ve seen him play since he was little bitty so we kind of knew he could do it.”
Still, McConnell’s double was the only hit off Abeyta until he got another one with one out in the bottom of the fourth. With the bases loaded and two out, Krause helped himself out big time with an opposite field double to right which brought home all three runs for a 4-0 lead, giving him all the support he needed.
The only major chinks in Krause’s armor came with one out in the sixth when the top three hitters in Tulia’s order all singled, with Gustavo’s single to right bringing home Pastrana to cut it to 5-1. Krause was removed after hitting Zach Trevino to load the bases, but McConnell relieved and got consecutive strikeouts to end the inning.
Bushland put the game away with five runs in the bottom of the inning to knock out Abeyta. Max Rodriguez chased Abeyta with a two-run double.
District 1-3A scores
Monday’s game
Dalhart 21, Tulia 9
Tuesday’s game
Childress 17, River Road 3
Friday’s games
Bushland 10, Tulia 1
Dalhart 11, River Road 1
West Plains perfect after four games, Randall downs Pampa
If it seems as if the Canyon ISD schools are taking turns dominating the top of the district standings, then maybe West Plains is destined to come out on top this season.
After Randall and Canyon respectively ended up in the state semifinals each of the last two years, upstart West Plains is on a similar trajectory, at least early on. The Wolves are unbeaten and in sole possession of the district lead after two wins this past week.
West Plains beat CISD rival Randall 8-5 on Monday, then rolled past Dumas 10-2 on Friday to move to 4-0 in district play. The Wolves are 14-4-1 on the season and have won nine straight.
The win over Randall was the first in school history for the Wolves in only their third year as a program as CISD’s newest school. Several of the West Plains players started in the Randall district.
West Plains jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the second, sparked by a two-run single by Jesse Flores. Randall (11-6-1, 2-2) took a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the fifth before the Wolves tied it in the top of the sixth on Kaden Hooker’s RBI single.
The Wolves then scored three in the seventh to take the lead, capped by Reid Macon’s two-run double to center.
It wasn’t nearly as suspenseful against Dumas, as West Plains came back from a 2-0 deficit in the top of the first with 10 unanswered runs. Leadoff hitter Flores had three hits and scored three runs while Kai Carrillo had three hits and drove in three runs and Elijah Vasquez also drove in three runs.
Macon started on the mound and gave up two unearned runs in five innings for the win.
Randall did bounce back handing Pampa (10-5) its first loss in district to drop the Harvesters to 3-1 in district.
Brae Silva threw a complete game scattering four hits with four strikeouts allowing only one earned run.
Canyon and Hereford also won twice last week. The Eagles defeated Dumas 12-8 on Monday and Borger 14-0 on Friday and are now 15-3 and 3-1 in district, having won three straight after losing their district opener to Perryton.
They’ll host West Plains next Tuesday in a much-anticipated CISD showdown.
Hereford (10-7-1, 2-2) got two much needed wins to finally move into the win column. The Whitefaces beat Borger 11-1 on Tuesday and Perryton 8-3 on Friday.
District 4-4A scores
Monday’s games
West Plains 8, Randall 5
Canyon 12, Dumas 8
Tuesday’s games
Pampa 6, Perryton 5
Hereford 11, Borger 1
Friday’s games
West Plains 10, Dumas 2
Randall 7, Pampa 1
Canyon 14, Borger 0
Hereford 8, Perryton 3
Amarillo High and Tascosa continue solid play
While the high school season is still relatively young, the Amarillo High Sandies have already gotten an upper hand over one-third of the way through their district schedule.
Saturday afternoon Amarillo High was a game up over the rest of the district after beating Plainview twice in 24 hours. The Sandies beat the Bulldogs 5-2 on the road Friday then returned home to Sandie Field on Saturday afternoon and romped to a 14-3 five-inning 10-run mercy rule victory.
Amarillo High (12-7-1, 5-1 in district) is the first district team to reach five victories, putting the Sandies a leg up in the win column over everybody else in 3-5A.
The two wins over Plainview couldn’t have been more different. Friday pitching was the story, as Taegen Tate threw six shutout innings before the Bulldogs got on the board with two runs in the bottom of the seventh to avert the shutout.
Plainview carried that momentum into the next game, scoring two runs in the top of the first off AHS starter Tate Blackwell for a 2-0 lead. However, the Sandies would score 14 unanswered runs, achieving the run-rule margin with six runs in the bottom of the fourth.
Tate had two hits and drove in three runs for the Sandies, Mello Castillo had three hits and drove in two runs and Clayton Norrell drove in three runs.
Crosstown rival Tascosa could have joined the Sandies atop the district, but the Rebels couldn’t complete their attempt of a sweep against Lubbock High. Tascosa beat Lubbock on the road 12-5 on Friday but left the tying run at third in losing at home 7-6 on Saturday.
In the first game, Tascosa (10-5, 4-2) broke open a 3-3 tie with seven runs in the top of the third to take control.
Saturday’s game was more competitive, starting off as a pitchers’ contest through three scoreless innings. Lubbock scored four runs (two unearned) off Tascosa starter Holden True to take a 4-0 lead in the top of the fourth, but the Rebels answered back with three in the bottom of the fifth, as James Naylor tied it with a three-run triple and scored one pitch later on David Gordon’s single to right to make it 5-4.
The Westerners retook the lead with two in the sixth off Tascosa reliever Jaxson Armstrong and added an insurance run in the seventh for a 7-5 lead.
Tascosa mounted a two-out rally against Lubbock starter Ivan McGwier in the seventh, as Sam Adams singled home True to cut it to a single run. Xiah Vasquez pinch ran for Adams and McGwier was facing what would be his final batter no matter what since he had almost reached his pitch limit.
Before McGwier could even throw a pitch, though, Vasquez broke too soon for second, and McGwier caught him, throwing to second to throw him out and end the game, leaving Charlie McKinney stranded on third as the tying run.
District 3-5A scores
Monday’s games
Amarillo High 10, Palo Duro 1
Tascosa 6, Plainview 5
Lubbock High 22, Caprock 1
Lubbock Coronado 11, Lubbock Monterey 9
Thursday’s games
Tascosa 12, Caprock 5
Lubbock Coronado 6, Amarillo High 1
Lubbock Cooper 15, Palo Duro 5
Plainview 6, Lubbock Monterey 5
Friday’s games
Amarillo High 5, Plainview 2
Tascosa 12, Plainview 5
Lubbock Monterey 12, Caprock 7
Lubbock-Cooper 11, Lubbock Coronado 0
Saturday’s games
Amarillo High 14, Plainview 3
Lubbock High 7, Tascosa 6
Lubbock Monterey 8, Caprock 3
Lubbock Coronado 5, Lubbock-Cooper 4