GRAHAM – The District 7-2A baseball champion Bangs Dragons seized control of their Region I-2A bi-district playoff series against Anson with a 7-0 victory in Game 1 here Thursday.
Games 2 and 3 of the series, if needed, will take place beginning at noon Saturday back in Graham.
Bangs (17-8) received a one-hit shutout on the mound from Kenny Cole, who struck out eight and walked three. The Dragons defense did not commit an error.
Offensively, the Dragons collected six hits, drew eight walks and were aided by four Anson errors.
Skylar Minshew tripled, doubled and drove in two runs to spark Bangs while Hunter Newton singled twice and contributed an RBI. Zack Ferguson chipped in a single and an RBI, while Cole also collected a hit.
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Stamford 6, Bangs Lady Dragons 0
EARLY – In the first game of a Region I-2A softball area round playoff series, the Bangs Lady Dragons were dealt a 6-0 loss by Stamford here Thursday.
The Lady Dragons (19-9) will need to sweep a Saturday 5 p.m. doubleheader from Stamford (20-7) at Abilene Christian University in order to keep their season alive.
Bangs was limited to just four hits – a double and two singles from Abby Wolf and another single from Cheyenne Rush.
In the circle, Wolf yielded six runs on 14 hits with seven strikeouts and no walks. Stamford scored three runs in the top of the first inning, added one more in the fourth and the final two runs in the fifth.
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Albany 7, Coleman Bluecats 3
RANGER – The Coleman Bluecats’ backs are to the wall after suffering a 7-3 loss to Albany here Friday in Game 1 of a Region I-2A baseball bi-district series.
Games 2 and 3, if needed, are slated for 1 p.m. Saturday at Stephenville High School.
The Bluecats trailed 4-0 after two innings before scratching across their first run. Albany answered for a 5-1 cushion before Coleman struck for two more runs in the fifth. Trailing 5-3, the Bluecats gave up two final runs in the bottom of the sixth for the four-run margin.
Coleman was limited to just three hits – a triple by Kaden Johnson who drove in two runs, a triple by Jadin Jackson, and a single and an RBI by Brayden Torres.
On the mound, Johnson and Easton Meador surrendered a total of seven runs – two earned – on six hits with eight strikeouts and two walks. The Bluecat defense committed seven errors.