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Bearcats bounce back against Brewer, shut out Granbury

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After suffering a 3-1 loss to Brewer at home on Tuesday, March 21, Aledo head baseball coach Chad Barry emphasized the Bearcats’ need to address their approach at the plate, especially with two strikes.

Since then, the Bearcats (13-6 overall, 2-1 in District 5-5A) have been on a tear, outscoring opponents 19-2 as they redeemed the loss to the Bears with an 11-2 win at Brewer on Friday, March 24. They followed up that performance with an 8-0 shutout in Granbury on Tuesday, March 28.

“We definitely have had better at-bats,” Barry said. “I thought we moved runners really well [on Tuesday], too. We had two bunts for hits. I thought we played solid in all facets of the game.”

Not only has the offensive production improved over the past two games, but the Bearcats have been nothing short of stellar on the bump. It’s been almost a month since Aledo’s hurlers gave up more than three runs in a game. Tuesday’s win over Granbury marks the fourth shutout of the young season for the Bearcat hurlers.

 

Bearcats prey on Pirates

The trio of Matthew Clark, Jake Bumgardner, and Luke Saunders combined to toss a three-hit shutout against Granbury. Clark picked up the win as the starter as he put in four innings of one-hit baseball before exiting with a 2-0 lead. Bumgardner threw two innings of relief, giving up a one hit as well, before handing the ball off to Saunders to finish off the seventh.

The Bearcats got on the board in the top of the fourth after Trace Mazon was plunked by a pitch. With one on and one away, Andrew Cambre singled to right allowing Mazon to advance to second on the hit to put a runner in scoring position.

After a ground out moved both runners up a base Ryan Jones stepped into the box with two on and two outs. A week prior Aledo stranded seven runners on base, but that was not the case against Granbury. Jones singled to right field, giving Mazon and Cambre ample time to charge around the bases as the visiting team took the lead.

Cambre singled again to lead off the top of the sixth inning. He was replaced on the base path by Brooks Burdine, who promptly stole second to move into scoring position.

With a runner in scoring position and no outs, the Bearcats manufactured a run as Brooks Dwinell dropped down the sac bunt, moving the runner over to third. Jones earned another RBI by hitting a ground ball to the right side of the infield, giving Burdine the opportunity to score from third to make it a 3-0 game at that point.

In the top of the seventh Aledo rallied for five runs as Brady McAnear, Garrett Rester, Boyd Thompson, Bosten Dwinell, and Mazon all scored in the inning.

 

Aledo avenges loss on the road

Bryce McCain led the charge for the Bearcats as they went to Brewer on Friday looking to avenge their 3-2 loss earlier in the week. McCain tossed four and two-thirds innings, giving up just two runs on four hits while recording 11 of the 14 outs he was responsible for pitching by way of strikeout.

At the dish, McCain wasn’t to be trifled with, either. Aledo’s hurler went 2-for-2 at the plate with a walk and a home run to left in the seventh with the game already out of reach for the Bears.

The Bearcats’ approach at the plate was vastly different against Brewer on Friday compared to Tuesday, as was the result. While the only run Aledo scored on Tuesday was in the fourth inning, on Friday the fourth inning was the only frame the Bearcats didn’t put a run on the board.

Aledo manufactured runs by stringing hits together and taking advantage of situations where they had runners in scoring position. The visiting squad put a run on the board in each of the first three innings, then capped off the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings driving in multiple runs in each stanza.

“We still have some things we can sharpen up on,” Barry stated following back-to-back wins by his team over the last week. “But, I definitely am pleased with how we’ve responded since the first district game.”

The Bearcats will take to the diamond again on Friday, March 31 as they look to take two in a row from the Pirates and push their winning streak to three games when Granbury comes to town. First pitch in that district matchup is slated for 7 pm.

 

Aledo 8, Granbury 0

                                            R  H  E

Aledo 000 201 5 - 8  9  1

Granbury      000 000 0 - 0  3  1

 

Aledo hitting: Boyd Thompson 1-3, HP, BB; Bosten Dwinell RBI, BB; Trace Mazon 1-3, 2 RBI, SB, HP; Andrew Cambre 2-4, RBI; Brooks Dwinell RBI; Ryan Jones 1-4, 3 RBI; Bryce McCain 1-4; Brennon Evans BB; Garrett Rester 3-3, 2B; Brooks Burdine SB.

Aledo pitching: Matthew Clark 4 IP, H, 3 BB, 2 K; Jake Bumgardner 2 IP, H, 2 K; Luke Saunders 1 IP, H, BB, K.

 

Aledo 11, Brewer 2

Aledo 111 024 2 - 11 12 0

Brewer 000 020 0 - 2  4  4

Aledo hitting: Thompson 3-5, 3B; Bo. Dwinell 1-4, RBI; Mazon 1-for-5, RBI; Cambre 1-3, 2 RBI, HP; Br. Dwinell 2-4, 2 RBI, 2B, HP, SB; Jones 1-4; Bryce McCain 2-2, RBI, HR, HP, SB; Evans 1-3; Rester BB.

Aledo pitching: McCain 4.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 11 K; Luke Taylor 0.1 IP; Luke Saunders 2 IP, BB, 3 K.

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