JACKSBORO – Aside from the bottom of the fifth inning, the Brownwood Lions turned in a solid performance in their Region I-4A baseball bi-district playoff game Friday night. But a three-run home run ignited an eight-run frame for the Vernon Lions, who went on to capture a 10-1 victory, ending the season for third-year head coach Bryan Harris’ squad.
“We’re disappointed obviously,” Harris said. “It was a really great game until we got into the fifth and we got in trouble. We went into the game with a really good week of work and preparation and a good scouting report on them, things just didn’t work out for us tonight. We made some mistakes again and it’s really difficult to overcome those mistakes.”
Trailing 2-1 heading to the bottom of the fifth, Vernon’s (18-7-1) Cooper Quillin singled off the outstretched glove on a diving Brownwood (9-16-1) shortstop Jakob Hataway, then Gavin Pierce was plunked by a Gavin Brandstetter offering. Following a visit to the mound by Harris, Vernon’s Cross Durham deposited the first pitch of his at-bat over the left field wall, as Brownwood suddenly faced a 5-1 deficit.
Harris then lifted Brandstetter – who yielded five runs on eight hits with four strikeouts and two walks in four innings – in favor of Kyle Ivy, who faced four batters without recording an out and allowed three runs on two hits. Cole Miller eventually came on in relief and got the Lions out of the inning, but not before giving up two runs of his own, and finished the contest.
“Gavin was as competitive as he always is and that’s what you’re going to get when you put Gavin on the mound,” Harris said. “You’re going to get his best. When you take the ball from him, he doesn’t want you to take the ball from him. He wants the ball in his hands, he wants to be the leader, he wants to be the guy that helps his team win. That was the mindset coming into the game. He had a good week, he was prepared, but he did elevate the ball a few times. He had a hard time locating the zone and he worked from behind several innings in a row and that ran his pitch count up. But he gave us everything he had and I’m proud of him. Changing Gavin out, I think was the right move at the right time, things just didn’t work out for the plan we had together.”
After Brandstetter left the mound, Case Fleming singled, Kasen Holley reached on an error, and Austen Fleming beat out a fielder’s choice to again load the bases with no outs. An RBI single by Pierce pushed the lead to 6-1, Ayden Smith followed with a run-scoring single, Lavery Gonzales drew an RBI walk with the sacks juiced, Garrett Pierce drove in a run when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, and Case Fleming beat out a two-out infield single to extend the lead to 10-1.
“They do a good job getting their barrels in the zone and putting the ball in play and they’re fast,” Harris said. “We knew they were fast, that they played small ball, and we had a plan for it for the most part. Aside from the mistakes, we didn’t make smart plays. There were a couple of instances where we didn’t make the smart play and that cost us as well and kept their inning alive.
The Lions attempted to answer in the top of the sixth as Brandstetter, Miller and Taylor Bessent drew walks to load the bases with one out, but Gavin Pierce came on in relief of Quillin and fanned David Turner and Jordyn Nickerson to escape the jam.
Vernon’s pitching duo combined to give up one run on four hits with six strikeouts and four walks.
Posey, Bessent, Turner and Justin Valdez recorded Brownwood’s base hits.
The Lions took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning as Brandstetter walked with two outs and Nickerson, the courtesy-runner, moved to second base on a steal and third on a passed ball. Posey then came through with an RBI infield single that dribbled its away toward shortstop to stake Brownwood to a 1-0 edge.
Vernon answered in the bottom of the first as Smith led off with a single and scored on Quillin’s RBI single into right field.
In the bottom of the third, Vernon moved in front for good as Smith again started the frame with a base hit, followed by a bunt single from Gonzales. Quillin then reached on an error that allowed Smith to score Vernon’s second run of the night.
Friday’s game wrapped up the high school careers of Brownwood’s three seniors – Hataway, Ivy and Kaden Bessent.
“It was very hard to find the right words in this moment, when you know your season’s over, but I’m proud of their effort,” Harris said. “We made mistakes and it’s hard to overcome those, but it wasn’t for lack of effort. We gave great effort.”
Vernon advances to face either District 8-4A champion Benbrook or District 7-4A fourth seed Springtown.
