Bearcats’ perfect district record remains

is grueling. There are no easy games.

Aledo head coach Chad Barry has said countless times the margin of error is slim and the team that does the little things right is usually the one that wins.

His Bearcats (14-7-1 overall, 5-0 in district) have been doing just that. Since entering their district schedule on March 19, the Bearcats have swept all five games they’ve played thus far. That includes back-to-back road wins in the past week over Granbury to close out their series, followed by a win over Saginaw.

The series opener with Saginaw on Tuesday, April 2, wasn’t without its share of drama. Leading 4-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, Eddie Howard took over on the mound for the Bearcats. Howard struggled to find his groove early, plunking the leadoff batter.

The Rough Riders managed to string together a trio of singles following the hit batsman, to make it a one-run game with no outs.

With the tying and go-ahead runs on the bases, Howard found his grit. He got the first out of the inning with a fly out to right field. Luke Trager made the catch close enough to the infield to keep both runners at bay.

With one out and a pair of runners on, Howard struck out the next two batters on just seven pitches to send Aledo home with another district win.

The Bearcats needed just one inning to produce all the offense they needed to pull out the win. In the top of the third inning with one away, Trager singled on a line drive to left field. As the lineup turned over, Boyd Thompson drew a walk pushing Trager to second with Brooks Burdine coming to the plate.

In the first pitch of his at bat, Burdine slapped a liner back up the middle. Trager motored around third on the hit, scoring from second while Thompson pulled in at third to put runners at the corners with one out.

Ryan Jones earned his a trip to first the hard way, after wearing the 3-2 pitch like a cheap suit, to load the bases.

With the bases juiced, Drew Weckel hit a fly ball to left for the second out. However, the ball was hit deep enough to allow Thompson to tag up and score from third to give the Bearcats their first lead of the game, 2-1.

Brennon Evans, who has been swinging a big bat all season long, singled to right, allowing Burdine to score easily as Aledo went up 3-1 with two gone in the inning.

Barry made the call to pinch run for his catcher.

With the new runner in the game, the Saginaw hurler became gravely concerned with the runner at first. With Weston Nance at the plate and Jones at third, the Rough Rider pitcher made one too many moves over to first, allowing Jones to swipe home during a pickoff move.

With Aledo up 4-1, Nance grounded into the 3-to-1 play to end the inning.

The Bearcats will close out the series with Saginaw when they host the Rough Riders at Bearcat Stadium on Friday, April 5. First pitch is slated for 6:30 pm.

Gran-buried

Devin Miller has been rock solid on the bump for the Bearcats this season. The series finale on the road in Granbury on Thursday, Mar 28, was no different.

The right-hander threw six shutout innings, giving up a lone hit and striking out a pair along the way. Thompson and Jones committed a pair of uncharacteristic errors apiece that ended up being of little consequence as Aledo kept the Pirates off the board.

Howard closed out the game by striking out the side in the home-half of the seventh inning, as the Bearcats earned their second series win in a row.

Aledo vs. Saginaw – Tues, April 2

Aledo hitting: Boyd Thompson 1-for-3, BB, R; Brooks Burdine 1-for-3, R, RBI; Ryan Jones 1-for-3, 2B, HBP, SB; Drew Weckel RBI; Brennon Evans 1-for-3, RBI; Weston Nance BB; Lucas Nawrocki BB; L Trager 1-for-3, R.

Aledo pitching: Jake Huffman 4 IP, 4 H, R (earned), 2 BB, 3 K; Luke Saunders 2 IP, H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K; Eddie Howard 1 IP, 3 H, 2 R (2 earned), 0 BB, 2 K.

Aledo vs. Granbury – Thurs, Mar 28

Aledo hitting: Brooks Burdine BB, R; Ryan Jones 1-for-3, HBP, R; Drew Weckel 3-for-3, 2B, HBP, 2 R, RBI; Brennon Evans 1-for-4, RBI; Weston Nance 1-for-3, BB, RBI; Johnny Ruflin BB, SB, R; Lucas Nawrocki 2-for-3, 2B, RBI; L Trager 1-for-3, HR, BB, R, 3 RBI.

Aledo pitching: Devin Miller 6 IP, H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K; Eddie Howard 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K.