District 4-4A
Canyon ties West Plains for 4-4A lead
The drama may have seemed more manufactured than it needed to be, but the final page of script was still quite a happy ending for the Canyon Eagles.
Not only that, there’s a much-anticipated sequel in the future.
Tuesday afternoon, the Eagles hosted fellow Canyon ISD school West Plains in a key District 4-4A showdown at Double Eagle Field. West Plains was the undisputed, undefeated district leader coming into the game with Canyon chasing a game behind.
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Canyon grabbed the lead in the bottom of the second inning and had what appeared to be a comfortable four-run lead heading into the seventh. Of course, this being two CISD programs, the ending was hardly simple.
West Plains rallied to tie the game with two outs, and when the Wolves retired the first two Canyon batters in the bottom of the seventh, extra innings looked inevitable. But after Brody Usleton drew a walk, Colt Cruth lined a double to right center to bring home Usleton with the winning run and give the Eagles an 8-7 victory.
“With this district and the way it is we’re going to take a win any way we can get it,” said first-year Canyon coach Jed Anderson whose team is now tied with West Plains for the district lead. “It’s good and bad. You never want to do that in the seventh inning by any means, but at the same time you get to see what your team’s made of. I’m just as proud as all get-out of these kids and how they responded.”
When the week ended, Canyon (17-3, 5-1 in district) was tied with West Plains (15-5-1, 5-1) for the district lead. Both teams ended the week with wins Friday, as Canyon held off Pampa 5-2 and West Plains blanked Borger 9-0.
It’s no surprise Tuesday’s game came down to a last one standing situation. Canyon had West Plains on the ropes, as the Wolves had one runner on with two outs in the top of the seventh trailing 7-3.
Boston Ladd singled to right-center off Canyon reliever Bayler Schilling to drive in a run and cut it to 7-4. Ethan Bentley then hit a ball to center field that Jacob Burris got his glove on but couldn’t corral, allowing Ladd to score and make it 7-5.
Schilling then gave up a single to Ethan Bentley and a triple to Kai Carrillo which each brought home a run and tied the game 7-7, prompting Schilling’s exit. Zabien Urteaga came on and two pitches later got Reid Macon to fly out to Burris in center and end the inning.
West Plains reliever Adrian Lucero retired Canyon’s first two hitters and got pinch hitter Usleton down in the count 0-2, but Usleton stayed alive and drew a walk. Lucero then had Cruth 0-2, but Cruth lined the next pitch to the gap in right center, and Usleton came in to score as the throw was up the line to win the game.
“Brody got down in the count and I was getting ready to go back in the field mentally but worked the count, had an amazing at-bat and got on base,” said Cruth, who not only had two hits and drove in two runs, but was in line the get the win on the mound after pitching six innings. “I got down in the count and shortened up and it was just like practice. I’d already visualized it 10 times before the game. When I hit it, I didn’t know until I saw it roll into the gap. It was such an unreal feeling.”
West Plains came into the game alone atop the district after four games, but except for the rally in the top of the seventh, the Wolves had a hard time keeping up most of the day. They took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second with an unearned run off Cruth, but the Eagles took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the inning on RBI singles by Cruth and Jake Doak.
With the win, Canyon is now the hottest team in the district, as the Eagles have recovered from a surprising loss to Perryton to open district. Now they can call themselves district leaders and contenders as expected.
“We don’t look at it from that far out,” Anderson said. “We want to play the best we can whether it’s West Plains or somebody else in our district. We don’t look too far down the road.”
West Plains made sure to stay even on the week by beating Pampa. Macon threw a complete-game three-hit shutout, striking out 12 and walking only one while Carrillo drove in two runs and Bentley had three hits.
The second half of district play starts next Friday and the road continues. West Plains will host Canyon on April 18 in a rematch, and it won’t be any surprise if there are playoff implications around that meeting.
Both CISD teams are a game ahead of third-place Hereford in the district. Hereford moved into sole possession of third-place Friday by beating Dumas 2-1 in a pitchers’ duel. It was a great week for pitching for the Whitefaces (12-7-1, 4-2), as they opened the week with a 1-0 victory at Randall, as Ethan Subealdea threw a complete-game four-hit shutout.
It was a hard-luck week for Randall, as the Raiders (12-7-1, 3-3) gave up only one run yet only had one win to show for it. They ended the week by blanking Perryton 5-0, as Brae Silva pitched a complete-game shutout, giving up five hits and striking out 10. Adam Trevino hit a two-run double, and Dylan Ray had a two-run home run to provide the bulk of Randall’s offense.
District 4-4A scores
Tuesday’s games
Canyon 8, West Plains 7
Hereford 1, Randall 0
Dumas 4, Pampa 3
Perryton 14, Borger 10
Friday’s games
Canyon 5, Pampa 2
West Plains 9, Borger 0
Randall 5, Perryton 0
Hereford 2, Dumas 1
District 3-5A
Amarillo High stays on top
A dominant week against a crosstown rival kept the Amarillo High Sandies in sole possession of the district lead.
The Sandies beat up on Caprock twice, winning 16-0 on Tuesday and 11-0 on Friday in a pair of five-inning 10-run mercy rule wins to keep them on top of 3-5A by a game.
Friday, Tate Blackwell and Taegen Tate combined to throw a no-hitter and the offense did the rest. Gabe Ortiz drove in three runs and Wyatt Purser drove in two to lead the hitting attack.
Tuesday, the Sandies (14-7-1, 7-1) scored seven runs in the bottom of the second to take control of the game and put things away with four runs in the third. Goldyn Howell led a 15-hit attack by going 3-for-4 and driving in four runs, as four Amarillo High hitters had at least two hits.
Caprock continues to struggle, as the Longhorns are now 0-20 and 0-8.
Palo Duro also stayed winless in district by suffering a pair of shutouts to second place Lubbock Coronado. The Dons (7-11, 0-6) fell to the Mustangs 3-0 and 9-0.
District 3-5A scores
Tuesday’s games
Amarillo High 16, Caprock 0
Lubbock Coronado 3, Palo Duro 0
Lubbock-Cooper 8, Plainview 3
Lubbock High 6, Lubbock Monterey 1
Friday’s games
Amarillo High 11, Caprock 0
Lubbock Coronado 9, Palo Duro 0
Plainview 2, Lubbock-Cooper 1
Lubbock High 4, Lubbock Monterey 2
District 1-3A
Bushlands keeps on soaring
The Bushland Falcons continued to soar in district play, as they won twice to stay unbeaten in 1-3A, two games clear of the rest of the district.
Bushland (10-8, 5-0) beat metro rival River Road 14-5 on Tuesday and Childress 12-8 on Friday in the closest district game of the season so far for the Falcons.
Against River Road (4-9, 0-5), the Falcons fell behind 1-0 in the top of the first, but took the lead with six runs in the bottom of the third. Bryson Jimenez gave Bushland the lead with a two-run single, and the Falcons capped the inning by scoring two runs on one wild pitch.
River Road cut the lead to 6-5, but Bushland put the game away with six runs in the bottom of the sixth, capped by a two-run double from Reece Melban.
Against Childress, the Falcons took control of the game by scoring seven runs in the top of the second to take a 10-1 lead, all coming with two outs. Landon Howell and Ty Askins had back-to-back two-run doubles to get things rolling, and Max Rodriguez concluded things with a three-run double.
Rodriguez and Wade McConnell both drove in three runs apiece.
Tulia did win its only district game outslugging River Road 17-8 on Friday. The Hornets (12-4-1) are now 2-3 in district play. Zach Trevino was 3-for-5 with a double finishing with three RBIs against the Wildcats. Teammate Roberto Martinez went 3-for-4 with three RBIs.
District 1-3A scores
Tuesday’s games
Bushland 14, River Road 5
Childress 7, Dalhart 6
Tulia 7, San Jacinto Christian Academy 4
Friday’s games
Bushland 12, Childress 8
Tulia 17, River Road 8
District 1-2A
Gruver takes the buzz out of Hornets
Gruver had a big week getting a pair of wins against upstart Highland Park by a combined 38-1 on Tuesday and Friday.
The Greyhounds defeated Highland Park 20-0 on Tuesday and then came to the brand-new Hornets baseball park for an 18-1-win Friday afternoon.
Not only did the Greyhounds total 38 runs but Gruver pounded out 38 hits in the two games with 10 extra base hits. Junior standout Briggs Satterfield had quite the week. Satterfield was a combined 5-for-8 for the series with a double and six total RBIs. He also tossed two scoreless innings Friday with five strikeouts. Teammate Bo Cowan was a combined 4-for-6 with a homer, a double to tally four RBIs. Gruver is off to a 7-0 start overall and 2-0 in District 1-2A.
Sanford-Fritch and West Texas High split a two-game set this past week. The Eagles downed the Comanches 11-5 on Tuesday. Cash Hays was 3-for-3 to lift the Eagles with two RBIs. On Friday, WT High bounced back by getting a wild 17-10 victory over Sanford-Fritch. Cash Fulton was the story for the Comanches going 2-for-3 with a triple for a total of two RBIs. Fulton also worked 3.1 innings getting five strikeouts allowing four earned runs. WT High is now 6-7 overall and 1-1 in district. The Eagles are 9-3 and 1-1.
Booker earned a pair of wins this past week against rival Follett. The Kiowas (6-2 overall, 2-0 in district) defeated the Panthers 15-3 on Tuesday and then won a 19-15 slugfest Saturday. Booker erased an 11-4 deficit scoring 15 runs in the top of the seventh Saturday. On Tuesday, Booker’s Julian Rosales was 3-for-4 with a triple to tally four RBIs.
White Deer and Boys Ranch also split in a pair of district games. The Bucks beat up Boys Ranch 10-1 on Monday only to see the Roughriders return the favor with a 23-8-win Friday. Zeke Holman had a big afternoon for Boys Ranch on Friday going 3-for-4 with a pair of runs driven in.
District 2-2A
Clarendon remains unbeaten in district
In District 2-2A, Clarendon remains unbeaten getting two wins over the past week. The Broncos held off Memphis 7-5 on Tuesday and then won a high scoring affair against Floydada on Friday, 19-12. Clarendon (6-7 overall) is now 3-0 in district play. Mason Allred had a huge week. Against Memphis, Allred worked five innings on the hill allowing two runs with nine strikeouts. He also added a two-run double. In the victory against Floydada, Allred was 2-for-5 with a double finishing with three RBIs.
Wellington was able to beat Floydada 6-4 on Tuesday but did fall to Lockney 9-8 on Friday. The Skyrockets are sitting at 2-1 in league play and 4-5 overall. Against Floydada, Caleb Strickland was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Alex Orozco worked 5.2 innings allowing one hit with 14 strikeouts.
Nazareth used a 12-run sixth inning to put away Petersburg 17-5 during a district matchup Saturday. The Swifts are now 9-1 overall and 1-0 in league play. Rhett Ethridge had a big day at the dish going 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Brock Proctor had a double on a 2-for-3 day at the play with a pair of runs driven in.