The Bearcats won Game 1 3-2 before blowing away the Blazers in Game 2 11-4.
Aledo came in as favorites, but were playing with heavy hearts the day after the community found out the tragic news of junior high student Brayden Martin’s accident. The Bearcats decided to dedicate the series to him.
First, there was a delay to the start of Game 1 due to lightning. After a relatively breezy spring in Texas, the weather seemed to have made up for lost time across the state in recent weeks, including at Midland Legacy High School that day.
Once the game finally got underway, Aledo started strong. Lucas Nawrocki got the start on the mound and struck out the first three batters he faced.
With the bat in his hand, Nawrocki led off with a single. Following a ground out, Landon Barnes then hit a two-run home run over the left field wall to give the Bearcats a 2-0 lead and momentum.
In the second inning, Nawrocki got himself into some trouble, hitting the first batter and walking the next one. He pitched himself out of it though, striking out the next three batters while not throwing a single ball.
Aledo added to its lead in the same inning. Kyle Poindexter hit a one-out single followed by Nawrocki hitting a single that put runners at the corners. Luke Gladchuk then grounded out to second base, but it drove in one run to improve the Bearcats’ lead to 3-0.
In the third inning, Americas got its first hit of the game with a one-out single. It did not lead to anything as the next batter grounded into a double play for out three.
The next inning saw the Blazers’ leadoff batter get hit by a pitch, which would come back to bite Aledo. The base runner stole second and then later third base despite the next two batters striking out.
Americas’ next batter then grounded a ball to second base. The throw home was not in time as the Blazers cut the lead to 3-1. Another single followed before Nawrocki struck out the next batter for out three to limit the damage.
The lightning came again before the bottom of the fourth inning could start. Both teams had to sit and wait for more than an hour before the game could resume.
In the fifth inning, Garrett Love came in to pitch relief. Despite walking the leadoff batter, he picked up where Nawrocki left off as he struck out the next three batters he faced.
Aledo tried to get another thing going with its bats in the same inning as Barnes hit a one-out single. He stole second base before a line out to left field and throw to first base caught him for the inning-ending double play as the Blazers returned the favor from earlier in the game.
In the sixth inning, Americas started off the inning well with a leadoff double. A ground out moved the runner to third base before the next batter hit a sacrifice fly ball to left field, allowing the base runner to score and cut the lead to 3-2.
Love went into the final inning nursing the one-run lead, but he made sure there would be no dramatics. He struck out the first batter before a pop fly into foul territory was tracked down by first baseman Jackson Loos right before he ran into a fence. The final out was a weakly hit ball fielded by the catcher Connor Whitmire who easily threw the batter out at first base to secure the win.
Barnes led the team with two RBIs and a home run as well as two hits while Gladchuk drove in a run as well. Barnes, Nawrocki and Dylan Duran each had two hits to lead the team as Aledo finished with seven hits.
On the mound, Nawrocki pitched four innings and allowed one run on three hits while striking out 10. Love pitched three innings and allowed one run on one hit while striking out five. The six outs the defense made were clean as the team committed no fielding errors.
After already having several weather delays during Game 1, there were no more delays once Game 2 started 30 minutes after the first one.
The Bearcats again jumped on the Blazers in the first inning. Wilson Sehnem and Gladchuk led off the game by drawing walks. Barnes came through with a double that drove one run. Nawrocki and Duran then hit back-to-back sacrifice fly balls that drove in the remaining base runners as Aledo led 3-0. Luke Sandefur got the start on the mound in Game 2 and allowed no base runners to end the first inning.
Aledo got a boost of adrenaline in the second inning as Whitmire hit a solo home run over the left field wall as the Bearcats’ lead grew to 4-0.
Americas showed some fight later in the inning. The leadoff batter reached second base on an error by the shortstop. After a fly out, the runner advanced to third base where he was driven in by another sacrifice fly ball. The Blazers cut the lead to 4-1.
The Bearcats got the run back to start the third inning. Nawrocki led off with a drawn walk. A balk two batters later moved him to second base before two wild pitches during the final at-bat of the inning allowed him to come home to improve Aledo’s lead to 5-1.
The Blazers were able to scrape in a run in the bottom of the fourth inning. A hit batter followed by a walk led off the inning before a wild pitch put the lead runner on third base. A sacrifice fly ball allowed one run to score and the other runner to advance to third base. Sandefur recovered to strikeout the next two batters swinging as Aledo led 5-2 heading into the fifth inning.
The Bearcats added to their lead with Barnes leading off with a single before Nawrocki followed with a double to put them both in scoring position.
Following two pop-ups, one in foul territory and one in the infield, Will Cayce hit a single followed by an error at second base that drove in both runners and allowed Cayce to reach second base.
Cayce later stole third base, but an error on the throw allowed him to get up and scamper home for another run as Aledo’s lead was now at 8-2.
Later in the inning, Sandefur prevented a two-out rally from starting despite giving up a walk as he struck out the next batter to finish up his outing before Dane Browne came in to pitch the final two innings.
Whitmire led off the sixth inning with a ground ball to third base that resulted in an error which allowed him to reach second base. Following a ground out that moved the base runner to third base, Kaler Mazon hit a sacrifice fly ball to drive in a run as the Bearcats led 9-2.
A one-out single came back to bite Browne. Following a ground out that moved the runner to second base, a double drove in the base runner as Americas cut the lead to 9-3. Browne stopped the bleeding as he struck out the next batter for out three.
Already having a sizable lead was not enough for Aledo in the final inning. Duran hit a leadoff single and two batters later Cayce hit a two-run home run over the left field wall. The Bearcats’ lead was up to 11-3, with the Blazers down to their final three outs.
Americas did not give up. A leadoff double turned into another run two batters later with a single to cut the lead down to 11-4 with only one out. But the next batter ground out into a series-ending double play as the Bearcats got the final outs of the game.
Cayce led the team with three RBIs with one home run. Barnes had a team high three hits as Mazon, Nawrocki, Duran and Whitmire each drove in one run each. Aledo finished with 11 hits during the game.
On the mound, Sandefur pitched five innings and allowed two runs, one earned run on zero hits while striking out seven batters. Browne pitched the final two innings and allowed two runs on four hits while striking out two. The defense committed one fielding error.
The Bearcats will play a best-of-three series against McKinney North in the state semifinals all at Dallas Baptist University. Game 1 was Thursday night, but Game 2 is scheduled for 5 p.m. on May 29. If a Game 3 is needed it is scheduled for noon on May 30.
Bearcats 3, Americas 2
Aledo offense: Landon Barnes two hits, one home run, two RBIs, one run, one steal, one hit by pitch; Luke Gladchuk one RBI; Dylan Duran two hits; Lucas Nawrocki two hits; Kyle Poindexter one hit, one run; Reid Huffman one walk.
Aledo pitching: Lucas Nawrocki (W) four innings, three hits, one run, 10 strikeouts, one walk; Garrett Love three innings, one hit, one run, five strikeouts, one walk.
Bearcats 11, Americas 4
Aledo offense: Will Cayce two hits, one home run, three RBIs, one steal; Landon Barnes three hits, one double, one RBI, two runs; Lucas Nawrocki one hit, one double, one RBI, two runs, one walk; Connor Whitmire one hit, one home run, one RBI, one run; Dylan Duran one hit, one RBI, one run; Kaler Mazon one RBI; Luke Gladchuk one hit, one double, one run, one walk; Kyle Poindexter one hit, one double; Jackson Loos one hit; Wilson Sehnem one run, one walk.
Aledo pitching: Luke Sandefur (W) five innings, zero hits, two runs, one earned run, seven strikeouts, three walks; Dane Browne two innings, four hits, two runs, three strikeouts.
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