By Jason Della Rosa, Herald Democrat
PRINCETON — The way the Tomcats finished the game laid out the type of blueprint for how Tom Bean hoped it could have started.
But some early miscues made the comeback attempt necessary and even though it came up a run short, it provided a boost going into the rest of the series against the Sam Rayburn Rebels.
“I think the idea of the playoffs got to them a little bit. You’ve got be focused right off the bus,” Tomcats head coach Larry Edgemon said. “Being a little timid early cost us those two runs.”
Sam Rayburn made its early scoring hold up in a 3-2 victory against Tom Bean to open the Class 2A Region II bi-district matchup at Princeton.
“That’s about what I thought it would be – very competitive,” Edgemon said. “They have the confidence and know they can play with them.”
Sam Rayburn (15-6) will look to sweep with a victory at 6:30 p.m. on Friday night while Tom Bean (8-15) will try to force a deciding third game at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Branigan Gomez allowed two earned runs on 10 hits with two strikeouts and two intentional walks and also drove in a run, Dakoda Pearson tripled, drove in a run and scored, Gage Moore walked twice and Alex Sanchez singled and walked for Tom Bean.
Case Nichols was 2-for-3, drove in a run and scored, Clay Caldwell was 2-for-4 with a double and scored, Riker Stewart tripled, walked and drove in a run and Drew Baker was 2-for-4, scored and threw a three-hitter with five strikeouts and three walks for Sam Rayburn.
The Tomcats nearly forced extra innings with their seventh-inning comeback attempt. Collin Cherry was hit by a pitch and Pearson tripled to center, bringing the tying run to the plate with no outs.
After a strikeout, Gomez lifted a sac fly to right and the deficit was down to a run but the rally ended there as Baker got a groundout to short which preserved the victory.
“We had the right guys there at the right time to make something happen,” Edgemon said.
Before the late push, Tom Bean couldn’t break through against Baker, although it had runners on in four of the six innings.
“We only struck out five times; I’ll take that all day,” Edgemon said. “We’re putting the ball in play; we’ve just got to do a little better job at the plate.”
Cherry led off the second inning with a hit to left and then stole second but was doubled off on a flyout to center.
In the third, Gomez reached on an error to kick off the stanza and Sanchez walked with two outs but Baker kept the Tomcats off the board with a strikeout.
Moore led off the fourth with a walk but was thrown out trying to steal second.
And in the sixth, Sanchez had a one-out single to center and following a forceout, Chris Harmon ended up at third. Moore had a two-out walk and on a wild pitch Harmon tried to score but was thrown out at the plate.
“If we’re going to make mistakes on the base paths, be aggressive instead of timid,” Edgemon said.
Sam Rayburn’s final run came in the third when Cutter Davidson reached on an error to open the inning. Stewart ripped a two-out triple to center and it was a 3-0 margin.
Gomez kept the deficit manageable by escaping a couple of jams.
In the second, Conner Bledsoe reached on a one-out error and Caldwell then doubled to center. Bledsoe was rounding third as Caldwell was heading for that bag and started to retreat. The relay nabbed him for the final out
In the fifth inning, Sam Rayburn loaded the bases with one out — Davidson and Nichols singled, Colin Clark sacrificed them over and Stewart was intentionally walked. Gomez got a strikeout and a groundout to end that threat.
The Rebels jumped right to the lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first. Caldwell and Baker singled on pop-ups the Tomcats let drop and then Davidson doubled to left center to get Sam Rayburn on the board. Nichols had an infield single to the right side to bring in the other run.
Sam Rayburn missed a chance at a bigger inning when, with the bases loaded, Gomez picked off the runner at first for the final out of the frame.
"Short" - Google News
May 06, 2022 at 04:31PM
https://ift.tt/hNd0UyJ
Tom Bean's comeback falls short in Game 1 - Sherman Denison Herald Democrat
"Short" - Google News
https://ift.tt/OMcvY3L
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Tom Bean's comeback falls short in Game 1 - Sherman Denison Herald Democrat"
Post a Comment