SOUTHLAKE – Following victories over South Hills and Colleyville Heritage in the first two rounds of Class 5A postseason play, the Aledo Bearcats baseball team squared off against a strong Argyle Eagles squad in the Region I quarterfinals May 17-18 at Southlake Carroll High School.
The Bearcats (26-13-1) had strong pitching and defense on display throughout the best-of-three series against the Eagles (20-17), but could not generate a run. After crossing home plate 43 times in their previous two series (five games) combined, Aledo suffered a pair of shutout losses, 2-0 in eight innings in the opening game, followed by a 5-0 defeat in the decisive second game.
Junior right hander Devin Miller took the mound for Aledo and threw seven scoreless innings with seven strikeouts, matching zeroes with Argyle senior Alex D’Angelo.
“He’s been really consistent all year and has done that a lot – some of his losses were 2-1 or 1-0,” Bearcats head coach Chad Barry said. “He always does a great job of keeping us in the game with a good three-pitch sequence that keeps opponents off-balance. They hit some balls on him but we made some plays behind him. I’m disappointed for him that we couldn’t come away with a win after how well he pitched against that lineup.”
Aledo got its first batter on with no outs in four of the eight innings, but three of those ensuing at-bats resulted in double plays to keep the Bearcats off the board. In the eighth inning, Miller was relieved from the mound due to his pitch count of 102, and Eagles senior Colton Roquemore smashed a two-run homer over the right-center wall to give Argyle a 2-0 lead they would not relinquish.
“We got the leadoff guy on base with no outs, but for whatever reason, we could not manufacture a run,” Barry said. “We just couldn’t get hits or put bunts down when we needed them. The offense is a lot better than what they showed, but you can’t have performances like that at this point of the year.”
Argyle got off to a fast start, scoring four of their five runs in the first two innings. Aledo junior first baseman Drew Weckel, senior infielder Weston Nance and sophomore designated hitter Lucas Nawrocki each scattered a single during the game that accounted for Aledo’s three hits, while the Bearcats put forth a collective effort from the mound.
Aledo was the champion of District 5-5A and reached the regional quarterfinals after falling in the area round a season ago. The Bearcats will graduate 14 seniors from this year’s roster.
At Southlake Carroll High School
R H E
Aledo 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 5 0
Argyle 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 - 2 6 0
Aledo hitting: Boyd Thompson 1-for-3, Ryan Jones 1-for-3, Brennon Evans 1-for-3, Lucas Nawrocki 1-for-3, Luke Trager 1-for-3.
Aledo pitching: D Miller 7 IP, 5 H, 8 K, 1 BB; Ethan Hodo 0.1 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 1 K, 2 BB; J Bumgardner 0.2 IP, 1 K.
R H E
Aledo 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 3 1
Argyle 1 3 0 1 0 0 x - 5 7 0
Aledo hitting: Drew Weckel 1-for-2, BB; Weston Nance 1-for-3; Nawrocki 1-for-3.
Aledo pitching: Jake Bumgardner 1.1 IP, 1 BB, 1 HP; Jenson Huffman 1 IP, 1 K; Luke Sandefur 2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 K, 1 BB; Luke Saunders 1.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R (3 ER), 1 BB.
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