A Wednesday night doubleheader did not determine a series winner between the Granger and Goldthwaite baseball teams.
The Lions claimed the series opener, 7-4, while the Eagles took the nightcap, 5-4, in Copperas Cove. The third and deciding game of the Class 2A-Division II best-ofthree bi-district round playoff series took place Friday night in Beeville.
Granger (14-8-1) and Goldthwaite (1312) played in Beeville because it was the closest available field to Kingsville, where players from both teams competed in the Region IV-2A track and field meet. The series winner takes on the winner between Dallardsville Big Sandy and Milano in the area round.
GAME ONE
The Lions scored seven unanswered runs, including six in the top of the sixth inning, to rally for a 7-4 victory against the Eagles. Granger scored all six runs in the fateful sixth with two outs.
Dayton Knippa hit a single and advanced to second base on a walk issued to Mason Vanek before he stole third and scored on a throwing error to make it 2-1 Lions. Following a walk issued to Adrian Lizardo, Wyatt Johle sent Vanek home by hitting safely into a fielder’s choice, Tre Castillo followed with an RBI single, Seth Good walked and Ryder Bice cleared the bases with a three-run double to give his team a 7-1 lead.
Goldthwaite didn’t go away, though. The Eagles used three walks to load the bases before using a single, a groundout and an error to trim their deficit to 7-4.
Goldthwaite used a hit batsman and a single to put the tying run at the plate with nobody out in the bottom of the seventh. But Good recorded consecutive strikeouts and forced a popout to end the game and earn the save.
Good pitched 1.2 innings of relief and gave up a hit while striking out three to earn the save. Castillo pitched the first 5.1 frames and earned the win, striking out five while giving up four runs on four hits.
Castillo (3-4, 2 RBIs) also led Granger at the plate. Bice (1-4, 2B, 3 RBIs), Johle (1-3, BB, RBI), Knippa (1-4) and Lizardo (1-2, 2 BBs) also contributed.
GAME TWO
Despite having three times as many hits as the opposition – nine hits to three – the Lions ultimately fell victim to errors in a 5-4 loss. Granger committed five miscues – four of which contributed to Goldthwaite scoring.
The Lions struck first in the bottom of the first when Bice hit an RBI double. Granger added a run in the bottom of the third with an RBI single from Castillo.
The Eagles used a walk, a single and an error to load the bases with one out before scoring on a fielder’s choice to pull within one, 2-1, in the top of the fourth. The Lions used a two-run single from Johle to increase their lead to 4-1.
But Goldthwaite started chipping away in the top of the fifth with an RBI single following an error, a tworun throwing error on a dropped third strike in the top of the sixth which tied the game at 4 and a throwing error on a fielder’s choice in the top of the seventh that gave the Eagles the lead for good, 5-4.
Bice (2-4, 2B, RBI) and Johle (2-3, BB, 2 RBI) led Granger at the plate. Castillo (1-3, BB, RBI), Knippa (1-3), Nicholas Blane (1-3), Nicholas Hamende (1-3) and Cohen Repa (1-3) also contributed.
