The Bearcats won 12-0 against the Bears, winning by run-rule after six innings in a dominant showing.
Aledo had played Brewer only a couple of days before to start off district. Despite winning 4-1, Coach Chad Barry did not think his bats had played up to their ability, with the game being tied after four innings.
With the Bearcats having aspirations to repeat as state champions, the team was hoping to show some of that potential during district play after more than living up to the hype during its pre-district schedule. On Friday, we saw it.
Luke Gladchuk got on base first for Aledo with a one out single. He then stole second base and advanced to third base due to defensive indifference. Next batter Landon Barnes hit a fly ball to center field that was dropped for an error and allowed Gladchuk to come in and score.
Barnes would steal second and then third base during the next two at-bats, a strikeout for out two, and a walk from Dylan Duran. With a 3-1 count, Kyle Poindexter hit a ball up the middle for a double that scored both base runners. Aledo led 3-0.
Luke Sandefur got the start on the mound and from the start he was giving Brewer batters fits despite dealing with several pitching infractions that was called on both team’s pitchers that left their coaches scratching their heads.
After a scoreless second inning, Aledo bats were able to stack up good at-bats together in the third inning. Barnes got on base with a one-out single. He stole second base and later third base. An error on the throw to third base allowed Barnes to come home for a self manufactured run.
Lucas Nawrocki drew a walk followed by Duran hitting a single and Poindexter drawing another walk to load the bases. After a strikeout for out two, Connor Whitmire came through with a bases clearing double that put the Bearcats up 7-0 before out three followed.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Bears finally were able to get some offense going against Sandefur. A hit batter was the first baserunner given up him followed by a single into left field. A wild pitch then allowed both base runners to move into scoring position with only one out.
Sandefer recovered by inducing an infield pop up for out two and a three-pitching, swinging strikeout for out three.
After a scoreless fifth inning, the Aledo bats got busy again racking up runs in the sixth inning. Whitmire led off with his second double of the game. Following a walk from Kaler Mazon, Wilson Sehnem drove in a run with a single. Gladchuk followed with a walk to load the bases with no outs. Barnes hit a fly ball to center field for out one, but it was deep enough to advance all runners for another run. Nawrocki followed with a ground ball up the middle for a single that drove in both base runners.
Following an infield fly ball for out two, Poindexter drew a walk. Reid Huffman hit a line drive single into right field that drove in another run to make 12-0 for the Bearcats after the next batter popped up to the catcher for out three.
Teryn Byrne came in to pitch preferably the final inning. Brewer would have needed to score at least three runs to avoid getting run-ruled. Byrne and the defense did not give the Bears any hope.
After induced groundouts to the shortstop and third baseman, a walk kept the game alive, but Byrne struck out the next batter to end the game.
Aledo won 12-0.
Whitmire led the team with three RBIs while hitting two doubles. Poindexter and Nawrocki each drove in two runs as well. Barnes had a team leading four stolen bases. As a team, the Bearcats had 10 hits and drew seven walks during the game.
On the mound, Sandefur pitched five innings and allowed zero runs on one hit while striking out 10 batters and walking one. Byrne pitched the final inning, allowing no runs or hits while striking out one and walking one. The defense committed no fielding errors.
Barry was much more pleased with the outcome and performance of his team on Friday night.
“I thought we got off to a really good start,” Barry said. “Coming up with three runs in the top of the first kind of set a tone. A three-run lead with Luke on the mound, Luke is hot and was hitting his spots like he was tonight, that is hard to overcome.”
The team is in a tough spot this week to try and keep this momentum up, having no games to play during spring break. Aledo’s next game not scheduled until 1 p.m. at Northwest High School on March 21, more than a week after last week’s district game.
“I want my guys to take a couple of days off to get away from baseball,” Barry said. “Refresh and reenergize because afterwards we are going ball to the wall all the way until hopefully June. There is no more breaks after this week.”
Aledo resumes district play with a scheduled game at 7 p.m. on March 24 at Chisholm Trail High School.
Bearcats 12, Brewer 0
RHE
Aledo 304 005 - 12 10 0
Brewer 000 000 - 0 1 2
Aledo offense: Connor Whitmire two hits, two doubles, three RBIs; Kyle Poindexter one hit, one double, two RBIs, two walks, one run; Lucas Nawrocki one hit, two RBIs, two walks, two runs; Landon Barnes one hit, one RBI, four steals, two runs; Wilson Sehnem one hit, one RBI, one run, one steal; Luke Gladchuk two hits, two runs, one walk, one steal; Dylan Duran one hit, two runs, one walk, one steal; Reid Huffman one hit, one RBI; Kaler Mazon one walk, one run.
Aledo pitching: Luke Sandefur (W) five innings, zero runs, one hit, 10 strikeouts, one walk, one hit batter; Teryn Byrne one inning, zero runs, zero hits, one strikeout, one walk.
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