In the past week Aledo’s baseball team has experienced both ends of the spectrum in terms of outcome and nothing in between.
On Friday, March 31, the Bearcats (14-8 overall, 3-2 in District 5-5A) made short work of Granbury with a 10-0 win that imposed a run rule in the fifth inning. Directly following that performance, Aledo was shut out on Saturday, April 1 on the road in Birdville and then again on Tuesday, April 4, at home by Saginaw.
“I think it’s a gut check,” head coach Chad Barry said after the loss to Saginaw. “At times adversity shows character, so I’m excited to see how we respond. [On Tuesday] they just beat us in every aspect of the game. They out baseballed us. That’s our challenge. We’ve got to go [to Saginaw] to play. They’re going to have a lot of confidence. We better show up with a chip on our shoulder like we have something to prove.”
The Bearcats’ struggles started with the first Rough Riders batter. A pair of hit batsmen followed by a pair of walks put Saginaw on the board without a ball being put in play. A trio of singles, an error, and a sac fly later and the Rough Riders were up 6-0 before the Bearcats got off the field.
Aledo managed to stop the bleeding defensively as they only surrendered two more runs in the remaining six innings of play. But the offense struggled at the plate to deal with Saginaw hurler Donnie Edgar, who had a stalwart performance on the bump.
The Rough Riders’ lanky right-hander gave up just three hits in the complete-game shutout. Even in the bottom of the fifth inning when Aledo loaded the bases with no outs following a pair of walks and a single by Garrett Rester, Edgar managed to work out of the jam with no damage done.
“I tip my hat to their pitcher,” Barry said. “He did a great job pitching out of a jam. He’s really good, really talented. At the same time, we’ve got to get better in the lineup and understand [in that situation] we don’t have to have a three-run triple. We need a single. We need a short, compact swing and to hit something back up the middle. We need to take one run at a time, not try to hit an eight-run home run.”
At the plate, the Bearcats took what Granbury gave. And the Pirates were in a charitable mood.
In total, Granbury’s trio of hurlers walked nine Bearcats while plunking four more to keep the bases loaded in three of the five innings on Friday.
Through the first four innings, all four of Aledo’s runs came by way of over-issued free passes around the bases by Pirate pitchers.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, however, a pair of back-to-back extra base hits blew the game wide open and then slammed the door shut on Granbury.
With a Bearcat at every station, Andrew Cambre strode to the plate just hoping to do a job for his club.
“My approach was just see ball, hit ball honestly,” Cambre said after the game. “I was just doing it for the team, so not taking any big hacks. Staying back, staying closed, and just doing my thing.”
Cambre’s thing on Friday night was the same as it has been several times throughout this season. Once again, he came through in the clutch with a two-out, bases-clearing double to put the home team up 8-0.
With two gone in the inning, an eight-run lead, and Cambre standing on second, Brooks Dwinell closed out the show when he hit a 1-0 rocket over the fence in left to walk it off for the Bearcats.
“Anytime you win 10-0, it’s always good,” Aledo coach Chad Barry said after the game. “We did a great job of working the counts and getting on base. We just couldn’t seem to find that big hit until later. Granbury helped us out a lot by losing the strike zone and giving us the first four or five runs. What we talked about in the dugout between innings was, let’s go earn some on our own. We went out there with the bases loaded and got the big hit we’ve been looking for all night.”
Robert Burk earned the win on the bump for the Bearcats as he tossed four shutout innings before turning it over to Garrett Addington in the fifth. Addington let his defense work behind him for a three-up, three-down top of the fifth as the duo combined to blank the Pirates.
In a non-district weekend matchup the Hawks of Birdville bested the Bearcats 4-0 on Saturday, April 1. Dylan Light picked up the lone hit for Aledo in the contest.
Saginaw 610 001 0 - 8 7 2
Bearcats 000 000 0 - 0 3 2
Aledo hitting: Boyd Thompson, 2 BB; Trace Mazon, BB; Andrew Cambre, 1-3; Bryce McCain, 1-3; Brennon Evans, BB; Garrett Rester, 1-3; Ryan Jones, SB.
Aledo pitching: Bryce McCain, 0 IP, 2 H, 6 R (5 earned), 2 BB; Luke Taylor, 3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER; Jake Bumgardner, 2 IP, H, BB, 3 K; Garrett Addington, 2 IP, H, R (unearned), BB, 2 K.
Bearcats 000 000 0 - 0 1 0
Birdville 003 010 X - 4 5 0
Aledo hitting: Brooks Burdine, BB, 2 SB; Dylan Taylor, BB, HBP; Dylan Light, 1-3; Ben Carruthers, BB; L. Taylor, HBP.
Aledo pitching: Bosten Dwinell, 2 IP, BB, K; Eddie Howard, 0.1 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 2 BB; Jon Paulsen, 0.2 IP, K; Jenson Huffman, 1 IP, BB, K; Mazon 1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER; L. Taylor 1 IP.
Granbury 000 00X X - 0 3 1
Bearcats 001 36X X - 10 5 0
Aledo hitting: Thompson, 2 BB, HBP, SB; Bo. Dwinell, 2 BB, RBI; Mazon, BB, RBI, HBP; Cambre, 1-2, 2B, 4 RBI; Br. Dwinell, 2-2, HR, 4 RBI, HBP; McCain 1-3; Evans 1-3; Rester, HBP.
Aledo pitching: Robert Burk, 4 IP, 3 H, BB, 4 K; Addington 1 IP.
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