District 3-5A
The case could be made that with the regular season winding down, no other metro team is more in control of their postseason destiny than the Amarillo High Sandies.
Now into the second half of District 3-5A play, the Sandies have firm control of the top spot in the district and aren’t showing signs that they’re willing to let go.
They made a statement in two games against crosstown rival Tascosa on Monday and Tuesday. Monday at Sandie Field, left-hander Clayton Norrell frustrated Tascosa bats all day, pitching a one-hit shutout as Amarillo High cruised to a 7-0 victory to maintain decisive control of the district lead.
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The next day, switching sites to Tascosa didn’t hurt the Sandies, who rolled to a 15-2 10-run mercy rule win in six innings. Barring an unforeseen catastrophe, Amarillo High (18-7-1, 11-1 in district) is destined to cruise to a playoff berth sooner rather than later according to the numbers.
“If you’re looking at this district top to bottom, having an opportunity to be 10-1 right now you can’t complain about it,” AHS coach Randon Johnson said. “The big deal is even playing 11 district ball games we’re not finished yet, but we do like where we’re at.”
Beating Tascosa (12-9, 5-5) provided a snapshot of how the Sandies got to where they are now. There wasn’t a lot of drama, just getting the job done.
Monday, Amarillo High got all the offense it needed in the bottom of the first. The Sandies mounted a two-out rally, as Austin Sluder drew a walk from Charlie McKinney then stole second.
Speed then manufactured the game’s first run, as Gabriel Ortiz beat out an infield single and the speedy Sluder came all the way around from second to score the game’s first run.
That was all the support necessary for Norrell. He had a perfect game going for awhile, retiring the first 14 hitters before Tascosa’s Jay Adams hit a flare single the other way to right field.
Norrell did issue a walk in each of the last two innings, but Tascosa never got a runner past second base against him in improving to 3-1. It was just the latest of a string of strong pitching performances for the Sandies.
“Clayton’s been doing that for us all year,” Johnson said. “His record doesn’t necessarily show that but we haven’t put a lot of runs behind him. As we’ve gotten into district we’ve backed him up better and he’s continued to pitch really well. We’ve had a couple of other guys we’ve put on the mound who’ve also led us on this streak in district.”
Norrell also helped himself at the plate, going 2-for-2 with an RBI single in the second to make it 2-0.
Appropriately, the Sandies closed things out by batting around in the seventh, getting five consecutive hits to start the inning and scoring three more runs. Along with Norrell, Sluder, Ortiz, Jimmy Escajeda and Jayden Cedillo also had two hits, as Amarillo High finished with 13 hits.
Tuesday, Tascosa got the upper hand by scoring twice in the in the bottom of the second, but the Sandies struck back with 15 unanswered runs to end it early. They took the lead for good on Mello Castillo’s two-run double in the fourth to make it 4-2. Castillo was 3-for-4 and drove in four runs.
Tate Blackwell had two hits and drove in three runs, as the Sandies got seven runs in the top of the sixth to attain the run-rule margin.
Caprock picks up first win in splitting two with Dons
Something had to give when the other two Amarillo ISD schools met Monday, as both Caprock and Palo Duro were looking for their first district wins, and it figured that someone had to go past the normal distance to do it.
Caprock hadn’t a game in or out of district all season, so the Longhorns might have been more due. They scored twice in the top of the 10th to pull out a 4-2 victory at Palo Duro which spared them the indignity of a winless season.
Palo Duro, though, salvaged something by picking up its first district win Tuesday, beating the Longhorns 5-2.
The Longhorns (1-23, 1-11) got things started in the top of the 10th as Josiah Tinajero and Neyo Talamantez began the inning with back-to-back singles. Trey Sauceda then bunted and it was misplayed, allowing Tinajero to score all the way from second.
Dezmen Molina then hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Talamantez with an insurance run. Molina then pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the 10th to earn the win.
Talamantez, Sauceda, Noah Martinez and Baux Martinez all had two hits for the Longhorns. Jabrelyn Wilson had four hits for Palo Duro (8-14, 1-9).
On Tuesday, at Caprock, the Dons took a 3-0 lead with three runs in the top of the third and never looked back.
District 4-4A
In what’s usually an intriguing traditional Canyon ISD matchup, things fell apart quickly in the last two innings, which explains why one of the teams was still atop the district by a three-game cushion.
After falling behind by two runs after three innings, Canyon simply dominated Randall the rest of the way, closing out the game with 17 unanswered runs to roll to an 18-3 run-rule victory in six innings. Canyon improved to 20-3 and 8-1 in district, tied with CISD rival West Plains for the district lead by three games over the rest of the district.
Randall (14-8-1, 5-4) looked ready to get closer to Canyon in the district standings after three innings. The Raiders led 3-1 as left-hander Gio Miranda gave up only an unearned run in the first.
Things seriously turned with two outs and none on in the top of the fourth. Miranda walked Kaz Abernathy and hit Colt Cruth with a pitch before Bayler Schilling lined a two-run double to left-center to tie it 3-3.
That was a mere prelude to the fifth. Canyon put the first six runners on base, and Carson Allen’s single to left off reliever Colton Seaton made it 4-3 and the Eagles were just taking off with seven runs in the inning. Kaz Abernathy’s two-run double was the big hit.
The sixth was even more fun for Canyon and torture for Randall. Canyon had seven hits in the inning, highlighted by a two-run double by Jacob Burris.
Allen and Doak both drove in three runs for the Eagles, who had 16 hits.
West Plains holds down Perryton
West Plains kept pace with Canyon, as the Wolves continued to have strong pitching to win at Perryton 5-1.
The Wolves (18-5-1, 8-1) took a 4-0 lead with three runs in the top of the third. Alakai Carrillo had the big hit with a two-run double.
Will Grisham pitched 4 1/3 innings to pick up the win. Micah Velasquez and Adrian Lucero combined to pitch 2 2/3 innings of hitless relief to preserve the win.
Pampa hustles past Hereford
Pampa has now put together back-to-back wins and swept the season series from Hereford getting a convincing 14-4 win at Hereford on Tuesday.
The Harvesters offense pounded out 13 hits with Boston Botello going 3-for-5 that saw a double and two RBIs. Teammate Max Neff also doubled going 3-for-4 at the dish with an RBI and Isaiah Anguiano threw a solid 6.1 innings allowing four runs but did have eight K’s.
Pampa improves to 5-4 in district and moves to 12-8-1 overall.
In the other district clash Tuesday, Dumas beat up Borger 12-2.
District 1-3A
Childress got timely hitting and strong pitching to get a 4-0 shutout win at home against River Road in a District 1-3A matchup Monday.
The victory keeps the Bobcats (10-8-1) in third place in the league at 4-3. Childress used a plethora of pitching to handcuff River Road. Starter Drake Rabe went three scoreless innings with two strikeouts. Luke Rodriguez Cruz Keys each followed throwing two innings without allowing a run. Rabe also did his job on the offensive side delivering a solo shot in the bottom of the third.
River Road was able to overcome the loss, falling to Dalhart 8-7 in eight innings Tuesday. Talon Garcia was able to score on a Wildcat throwing error off a ground ball from Hunter Trusler that gave the Golden Wolves the lead in the top of the eighth. Kevin Rios had a pair of doubles and three RBIs to pace Dalhart. Trusler added a pair of RBIs.
Dalhart (8-8) stays in second place of District 1-3A at 5-2.
Bushland rolls over Tulia to clinch a playoff berth
The Bushland Falcons clinched a playoff berth with a good chunk of the schedule remaining, beating Tulia 7-1.
Freshman Lincoln Krause provided another stellar effort on the mound. Krause threw a complete-game two-hitter, striking out 13 and walking none.
Colton Strickland led Bushland (11-9, 6-1) at the plate with two hits and drove in two runs. The Falcons clinched with a win after River Road lost to Dalhart 8-7.
District 1-2A
In the first of two key matchups this week, the Gruver Greyhounds were able to get by Sunray 10-7 in a District 1-2A showdown at home Tuesday.
Gruver remains unbeaten on the year at 10-0 and improve to 5-0 in district play. Sunray (8-2) suffers its first loss in the league falling to 2-1. The two teams will meet again at 4:30 p.m. Friday in Sunray.
The Greyhounds built a 5-3 lead through four innings before the Bobcats put together a four-run top of the fifth on top of Luke Grajeda and Pedro Barba RBI singles to go up 7-5. Gruver answered right back in the bottom of the fifth plating three runs behind crucial Sunray errors retaking the lead 8-7. The Greyhounds then found some insurance getting two more runs in the bottom of the sixth on a two-run double from Bo Cowan.
Cowan was clutch the entire day going 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs. Kip Pittman added an RBI finishing 2-for-3. Barba led Sunray going 2-for-2 with three RBIs.
Quick hits
Sanford-Fritch picked up a victory downing Highland Park 17-6 on Tuesday. The Eagles (9-5) are now 2-3 in district action. Briggs Bidwell feasted on Hornet pitching driving in a pair of runs behind three doubles. Paxton Drake was also key bringing home three runs on a double.
Booker keeps on rolling beating up White Deer 14-2 in five innings. The Kiowas (9-2) stay perfect at 5-0 in district play. Chase Nelson (5-1) was stellar on the mound racking up four K’s in three innings of work.
In the other District 1-2A game, Follett beat Boys Ranch 13-10.
In District 2-2A, Wellington edged Quanah in a defensive battle 2-1 on Tuesday. The Skyrockets remain atop the district chase at 4-1 while moving to 7-6 overall. TJ Salinas led the effort going 3-for-3 at the plate with an RBI. Salinas also worked 4.2 innings on the mound scattering three hits without allowing a run and finishing the game with nine strikeouts.
Nazareth keeps on cruising in District 3-2A beating up Springlake-Earth 30-2 on Tuesday. Tripp Ethridge led the offensive onslaught going 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles driving in a game-high six RBIs. Teammate Zane Schulte added five RBIs on a 2-for-5 day with a double. The Swifts are now 11-1 overall and 3-0 in league play.