“It goes back to what we preach about the three aspects of the game, throwing strikes, putting the ball in play and playing catch,” said Lions head coach Brian Harris. “You do two of the three and you’re in ever ballgame, and we did two of three tonight. The one that killed us was being able to play catch. That’s something we have to keep focusing on and we’ll get better. There’s not a single coach or single player that did not make a mistake tonight. I made some coaching mistakes and that’s something I’ll have to fix.”
The Lions (6-6, 2-1) spotted Gatesville (10-6, 1-1) the first six runs of the game before an RBI single by Kris Hobbs plated Reece Bolton with Brownwood’s first run in the top of the third inning.
Down later 7-1, Brownwood closed the gap to 7-4 in the fifth inning as Logan Posey and Bolton singled ahead of an RBI base hit by Owen Huntsinger. Hobbs then followed with a two-RBI single to plate Bolton and Huntsinger.
In their final at-bat of regulation, the Lions – who finished with 13 hits – drew even at 7 in the top of the seventh. Huntsinger led off with a double and Hobbs walked. Byron Foster followed with a two-RBI double to shave the deficit to 7-6. Later in the frame, an RBI sacrifice fly by Gavin Brandstetter knocked in Case Markham, running for Forster, with the tying run.
“I’m very proud of the way they fought back, they showed a lot of character in doing that,” Harris said. “We had some things go bad for us early in the game.”
Brandstetter worked the first seven innings on the mound, allowing seven runs on 11 hits with six strikeouts and one walk. Atticus Porter pitched the eighth inning.
“Gavin made a great adjustment mid-game, he started pitching backwards to them and starting getting his off-speed pitch over for a strike,” Harris said. “That was the key, and he gave us a chance to get back in it. I was extremely proud of the way he came back. Being as young as he is, that was a situation he probably hasn’t been in a whole lot being down 7-1. A lot of guys would be expecting to be pulled from the game but he hadn’t thrown a lot of pitches, and he was still around the strike zone and throwing ground balls and fly balls. He did exactly what we asked him to do.”
In other district action Friday, Lampasas knocked off Stephenville – who the Lions face next at 7 p.m. Friday at Morris Southall Field – by a 2-1 count. Lampasas (5-11-1, 2-1) is currently tied with Brownwood for the district lead, a half-game ahead of Gatesville and Stephenville (7-7-1, 1-1).