The Littlefield Wildcats’ varsity baseball team dropped game one of their Class 3A Regional Semi-Final series with the Brock Eagles on Thursday, 11-1, at Abilene Christian University.
Jordan Trevino drew a lead-off walk in the top of the first inning for the Wildcats, but Blake Green and Chris Brown went down swinging and Gus McNabb hit into a fielder’s choice to second base, who got the force out at second to retire the side.
Ethan Garcia took the mound for the Wildcats in the bottom of the first inning, as he got Tyler Moody and Cash Jones to strike out looking and he got Peyton Shaffer to fly out to Brown in right field to end the inning.
The Wildcat’s offensive struggles continued into the second inning, as Garcia and Ethan Hackler went down on called strike three’s and Davin Saldana struck out swinging to retire the side.
In the home half of the second inning, Garcia got Jaxon Gleaton to ground out to Jeremiah Salazar at second base for out number one, but Camden Harris reached base on an infield single deep in the hole to Trevino at shortstop to give Brock a base runner. However, Garcia got Luke Stills to ground into a fielder’s choice to Trevino at shortstop and the next batter popped up to Trevino at shortstop to end the inning.
Jonavan Weaver struck out swinging to begin the top of the third inning for Littlefield and Turner Heffington grounded out to second base, before Trevino hit a chopper to second and was thrown out at first to retire the side.
In the bottom half of the inning, Garcia recorded two quick outs, as he got Gavin Boedeker to fly out to Heffington in left field and Josh Gleaton laid down a bunt that was fielded by Garcia and thrown to first for out number two. Moody singled off of the barehand try by Garcia on the mound, but Garcia recovered and got Jones to strike out swinging for out number three to end the inning.
The Wildcats’ offensive woes continued into the fourth inning, as Green and Brown went down swinging and McNabb hit a one hopper to second and was thrown out at first to retire the side. In the bottom of the fourth in
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Shaffer roped a lead-off double to the left-field fence, but Jaxon Gleaton was tagged out by Saldana on a dropped third strike for out number one. Harris hit a sacrifice grounder to McNabb at first base to move Shaffer over to third on the play with two outs.
Stills drew a walk, as Shaffer scored on a past ball to put Brock up, 1-0. Sawyer Strosnider hit a grounder down the third-base line and beat the throw to first by Hackler and Boedeker drew a walk to load the bases for the Eagles with two outs. Carson Finney scored on a wild pitch to make the score, 2-0, before Josh Gleaton drew a walk to keep the bases loaded.
Strosnider scored on a past ball, before Moody hit a chopper to McNabb at first base, who stepped on the bag for the third out to end the inning.
Garcia broke through for the Wildcats in the top of the fifth inning with a single up the middle, as Joseph Salinas came on as the courtesy runner for the pitcher. Hackler flew out to right field for out number one, but Saldana laid down a swinging bunt to reach base safely, putting runners on first and second for Littlefield. Jaron Cabello came on as the courtesy runner for the catcher.
Weaver hit a chopper over the pitcher, that was missed on the charge by Moody to load the bases. Salinas stole home to get the Wildcats on the board, trimming the lead to, 3-1, but Heffington grounded into a fielder’s choice, as Weaver was thrown out at second for out num ber two. Trevino, though, struck out swinging to retire the side.
Jones singled to left field on a diving attempt that was dropped by Brown in right field and Shaffer followed it up with an RBI-triple to left-center field on a missed diving catch by Green, making the score, 4-1. Shaffer scored on a wild pitch to stretch their lead to, 5-1, before Jaxon Gleaton laid a bunt down the first-base line that was thrown away by Garcia, putting the runner on second.
Garcia was relieved on the mound by Trevino, who got the next three Eagle hitter to go down in order to end the inning.
In the top of the sixth inning, the Wildcats went three-up-andthree down, as Green flew out to left field, Brown struck out looking and McNabb struck out swinging to retire the side.
Boedeker drew a lead-off walk in the bottom of the sixth inning, as Eli Potts came on as the courtesy runner for the catcher. Potts took second on a past ball and third on a wild pitch, before Josh Gleaton was walked to put runners on the corners for Brock. Moody hit into a fielder’s choice to Salazar at second base, who went home with the ball to get Potts in a rundown, before he was tagged out by Hackler for out number one, leaving runners on first and second.
Moody took second on a pitch, before Jones hit an RBI-single through the left side to make the score, 6-1. Shaffer was hit by a pitch to load the bases, as Trevino was relieved on the mound by Heffington. Brock walked in a run, as Jaxon Gleaton was hit by a pitch to make the score, 7-1. Heffington got Harris to strike out swinging for out number two, but Stills was hit by a pitch to bring in another run, making the score, 8-1.
Strosnider drove in a run, as he hit into a fielder’s choice to Salazar at second, who dropped the ball trying to flip it to second for the force out, making the score, 9-1. Brock would walk it off with backto-back RBI-walks to end the game with a score of, 11-1.
Garcia pitched four innings for the Wildcats giving up five runs and three walks, while earning three punch outs. Jordan Trevino pitched 1.1 innings, giving up three walks and one run, while Heffington pitched 0.2 innings, giving up four walks and three runs, while earning one strikeout.