Wildcats sweep Golden Cranes, 2-0, advance to Area

The Littlefield Wildcats’ varsity baseball team run-ruled the Crane Golden Cranes, 11-1, on Saturday in Seminole to claim the Class 3A Bidistrict Championship.

With the win, the Wildcats improve to 14-10 overall on the season.

The Wildcat defense got the Golden Cranes to go three-up-andthree- down in the top of the first inning, as Tyson Brents grounded out to Ian Mendez at shortstop, Eric Garcia grounded out to Bradyn Redman at second base and Gracin Huertas popped up to Redman at second base to retire the side.

In the home half of the first inning, Markus Rosales drew a lead-off walk and Isaiah Rodriguez followed it up with a sacrifice bunt that was fielded by the pitcher, Huertas and thrown to first for the out, as Rosales advanced to second on the play. Rosales stole third on a past ball and Major McNeese drove him in with a shot through the right side; he advanced to third on an error by Garcia in right field, as Littlefield took a, 10 lead.

Brenden Bowman kept it going with an RBI-single to left field to score McNeese and make the score, 2- 0, but Mendez popped up to Brents at shortstop for out number two. Redman and Chip Green drew back-to-back walks to load the bases for the Wildcats, but Gabriel Villanueva struck out swinging to end the inning.

Ivan Martinez got Crane on the bases with a lead-off walk to begin the second inning, but Orlando Villegas hit into a fielder’s choice to Mendez at shortstop, who got the force out at second for out number one. Green got Sammy Sanchez to pop up to Adam MacDonald at first base for out number two.

Green gave up three consecutive walks, as Crane cut the lead in half, 2- 1, before Brents lined out to Redman at second base to retire the side.

Both teams went scoreless until the bottom of the third when the Wildcats came to bat. Bowman flew out to Garcia in right field for out number one, but Mendez singled to left field and Redman singled to right field, putting runners on first and second for the Wildcats. Green drew a walk to load the bases and Matthew Beardslee relieved Huertas on the mound for Crane.

Matthew would hit Villanueva with a pitch to bring in a run and make the score, 3-1, and MacDonald followed it up with a single to Brents at shortstop, bringing in Redman to make the score, 4-1, with the bases loaded. Rosales laid down an RBI-bunt on the third-base side to score Green, as they pushed their lead to, 5- 1. Rodriguez though, would strike out swinging for out number two and McNeese grounded out to first base to end the inning.

In the top of the fourth inning, Green got Villegas to ground out to Mendez at shortstop and he got Sanchez to ground out to the pitcher’s mound for two quick outs. Crane garnered a single during the next at bat, but Izayiah struck out swinging to retire the side for the Golden Cranes.

In the bottom half of the inning, Bowman led things off with a double for the Wildcats, as Ja’Den Williams came on as the courtesy runner for the catcher. Redman singled to center field putting runners on the corners for Littlefield. Redman would steal second on a pitch, before Green lined out to Cayden at second base for out number two.

Villanueva drew a walk to load the bases for Littlefield and MacDonald was walked as well, bringing in a run to make the score, 7-1. Bearslee was relieved by Lucas Bernard on the mound for Crane, as Rodriguez was hit by a pitch to bring in another run, stretching their lead to, 8-1. McNeese would ground out to second base to end the inning.

Littlefield again kept the Golden Cranes quiet in the top of the fifth, and in the bottom half of the inning, Bowman drew a lead-off walk, bringing Williams on as the courtesy runner for the catcher. Williams would steal second and third on pitches, before Mendez drew a walk putting runners on the corners for the Wildcats.

Villegas relieved Bernard on the mound, before Mendez stole second on a pitch to move into scoring position. Redman hit a sacrifice fly ball to Garcia in right field to score Williams and move Mendez over to third, making the score, 9-1. Green grounded out to third for out number two and Mendez was caught in a run down between third and home to end the inning.

Crane was unable to get anything going in the top of the sixth, and the Wildcats came to the plate in the home-half of the inning needing just two runs to move on to the Area round.

MacDonald was hit by a pitch to give Littlefield a base runner, and he stole second, as Xavier Champion came on as a pinch runner. Rosales struck out swinging for out number one, but Rodriguez and McNeese drew back-to-back walks to load the bases and Bowman hit a hard grounder to Brents at shortstop, reaching on an error, as Champion scored and the runners advanced to second and third with one out and the score, 10-1.

Mendez would hit a sacrifice fly to Sanchez in left field that allowed Rodriguez to tag-up and score from third, making the score, 11-1, as Littlefield run- ruled the Golden Cranes to advanced to the 3A Area Play-offs.

Green threw a complete game for the Wildcats, pitching six innings, giving up two hits, five walks and one run, while earning two strikeouts.

“I’m just extremely proud of our guys, we’ve faced some adversity this year and this is just a great group of guys who deserve everything that they’ve worked for. They come to the yard every single day and they take care of all of the small things.”

He added, “I’m just so proud of this group of guys, as a team they’ve overcome a lot and I’m very gratful to have the team and this group of guys that we have.”

The Wildcats will take on Bushland in the Area round, details are TBA.