SNYDER – The District 6-4A champion and 10th-ranked Brownwood Lions added two more victories and a bi-district title to their 2024 list of accomplishments, sweeping the first two games of a series against District 5 fourth seed Levelland, 6-5 and 8-3, Thursday night.

“The kids are just doing a great job, a fantastic job and I’m super, super proud of them,” said Lions head coach Blake Sandford. “Early round games can sometimes be difficult because everybody’s playing inspired ball and you almost in a way have to get your legs under you and get the right feel for what it takes to win these big-time playoff games.”

The Lions (24-6-1) improved to 13-1 in one-run games in the opener, jumping out to a four-run lead in the first inning and hanging on late. Brownwood then scored the first three runs in the nightcap and Levelland (14-16-1) was unable to piece together a late charge as it did the first outing.

With the series victory, the Lions will face either District 8 third seed Decatur (22-9) or District 7 runner-up Wichita Falls (10-18) in the area round of the playoffs. Decatur won the opener of that series, 4-3, Thursday with Games 2 and 3, if needed, set for 10 a.m. Saturday at Henrietta High School.

In Thursday’s opening contest, the Lions struck for four runs in the bottom of the first inning as Jordyn Nickerson led off with a single, David Turner followed with a double and Gavin Brandstetter’s RBI base hit plated Nickerson for a 1-0 edge. With one out, Eli Hill doubled home Turner and Brandstetter to boost the advantage to 3-0, then Austin Wright’s two-out RBI base knock scored Hill.

Meanwhile, in Game 2 Thursday, Brownwood raced out to a 3-0 edge in the top of the first as Nickerson walked, Turner doubled, and both scored on the same wild pitching during Brandstetter’s at-bat for a 2-0 advantage. Logan Posey followed with a one-out triple but Brandstetter was thrown out at the plate. The Lions quickly responded with an RBI ground out by Hill that resulted in the third run of the frame.

“If we can start fast like we did tonight, immediately we’re going to put pressure on the other team to where they’re fighting from behind,” Sandford said. “That’s something we’ve wanted to do all year – go out and get in front.”

In the opener, the Lions pushed their lead back to four runs, 6-2, in bottom of the sixth as Wright was plunked to start the frame and scored on an a one-out RBI double by Nickerson. Later, an RBI sacrifice fly from Posey brought home Nickerson.

Levelland made the game interesting in the top of the seventh, however, as a pair of doubles and two singles brought the Lobos within 6-5, before Austin Wright eventually shut the door in relief.

On the mound, Brandstetter notched the win as he worked six innings and allowed two earned runs on five hits with nine strikeouts and three walks. Wright tossed an inning of relief with three runs yielded on four hits.

“We have guys that have been doing a great job on the mound but this was a team that has hit the ball well in all the games we scouted, and hit the ball well the last few district games they played to earn the right to get to this round,” Sandford said. “They were a good hitting team coming into this game and I’m really proud of our pitches and their ability to keep them at bay and overcome when we had some missteps.”

In the nightcap, Yovani Figueroa gave up three runs on four hits with 10 strikeouts and four walks over five innings, and Noah Gonzalez worked two scoreless inning of relief with three strikeouts, one walk and one hit allowed to keep Levelland at arm’s length.

“We had some blunders, but we were going at it 100 percent trying to do stuff instead of sitting back and letting things happen to us,” Sandford said. “I’ll never really get too angry at a kid for trying to make a play and sometimes they work out and sometimes they don’t. At least they’re showing their aggressiveness and confidence in each other.”

To go along with their three-run first inning, the Lions added three more runs in the fifth inning and solo runs in the sixth and seventh. In the fifth, Turner doubled, Posey singled and Gonzalez came up with a two-out RBI single. Austin Pittman then reached on an error to score another run two runs. In the sixth, Brandstetter tripled with two outs and scored when Posey reached on another two-out miscue, and in the seventh Gonzalez reached on an error to start the frame and scored on a one-out RBI single by Antonio Ybarra.

Offensively, the Lions notched seven hits in the opener – two each by Nickerson, Turner and Hill and one by wright. In Game 2, Brownwood collected nine hits – two apiece by Turner, Posey and Gonzalez and one each from Wright, Brandstetter and Ybarra.

Originally, the series was supposed to feature just one game Thursday with a return to Snyder for Games 2 and 3, if needed, Saturday. But a forecast with an 80 percent chance of rain in the Snyder area for Saturday resulted in playing the first two games Thursday with hopes by the Lions they could complete the sweep.

“Now we know we can play back-to-back in the same day and get it done and I’m proud of that,” Sandford said.