GRAHAM – The Brownwood Lions overcame eight errors, 12 strikeouts, nine batters left stranded on base and a seven-run deficit in their final trip to the plate during regulation to force extra innings in the finale of their Region I-4A baseball area playoff series against the Wichita Falls Coyotes.
After nine innings, however, the District 7-4A champion Coyotes emerged with an 8-7 Game 3 victory, ending the season for the District 6-4A runner-up Lions.
“It was a roller coaster of emotions and circumstances changing constantly,” said fourth-year Lions head coach Brian Harris. “We had an opportunity to extend our season and that’s all you can ask for, but we got behind the eight-ball in a hurry and it mushroomed on us. There’s so much time and effort that goes into this and it’s so difficult to see it end, and see it end the way it did.”
Wichita Falls’ (19-14) Blake Vanderburg led off the bottom of the ninth with a single up the middle off Cole Miller that Brownwood (22-11) shortstop Antonio Ybarra couldn’t flag down despite a diving effort. Tate Milstead’s sacrifice bunt moved Vanderburg to second with one out, and a wild pitch advanced him to third base.
Nolan Rice was then intentionally walked to put runners on the corners with one out, setting up a double play possibility. Kyler Boone obliged with a grounder to second baseman Owen Huntsinger, who fired to Ybarra at the bag for the second out, but Boone was able to beat the throw from Ybarra to first base to prevent the twin killing, as Vanderburg scored from third on the RBI fielder’s choice to end the game – and Brownwood’s season.
“It came down to one play at the end and the ball was in the right spot,” Harris said. “It just didn’t work out for us today. Our execution on the field, our execution as coaches, for whatever reason didn’t work out for us.”
The Lions shot themselves in the foot most of the afternoon as self-inflicted wounds led to a 7-0 deficit heading to their final trip to the plate in the top of the seventh inning. There, T.J. McCraw – who labored against the Lions in Thursday night’s 12-0 Brownwood win – came on in relief of Jacob Schultz, who had hurled a shutout.
Brownwood’s seventh inning featured a leadoff walk by pinch-hitter Justin Valdez, then one-out walks by Gavin Brandstetter and David Turner. With two down and the bases loaded, Huntsinger laced a three-RBI triple to left-center field off McCraw, breaking up the shutout and closing the gap to 7-3.
Logan Posey and Case Markham then drew walks off McCraw to again the load the bases, where Austin Wright was plunked by a pitch to push across the Lions’ fourth run. McCraw – who walked five, hit one and gave up a double in two-thirds of an inning – was lifted in favor of Brendan Dunn, who was immediately greeted by a bases-clearing, three-RBI double over the left fielder’s head from Valdez, as the Lions had come all the way back and evened the score at 7-all.
“We were down seven, making changes trying to find a spark, trying to find some energy and we finally did that,” Harris said. “I had a gut feeling and you just have to give kids opportunities. I felt like some kids in the dugout needed to get some at-bats and things worked out for us. It’s hard to put into words and give the amount of credit and type of credit it takes to score seven runs in the top of the seventh when you’ve got two outs. But they did it, and I was not at all surprised. There’s a reason we scored seven runs in the top of the seventh, and that’s because Brownwood Lions don’t quit.”
The Lions were unable to tack an additional run, but Miller retired the side in order in the bottom of the seventh and extra innings were to follow – after the conclusion of a 53-minute lightning delay.
After the break, Miller struck out the side in order in the bottom the eighth, but the Lions were unable to put a runner on base in the top of the ninth. Wichita Falls – which also won Game 1 by a single run in walk-off fashion, 3-2 – was then able to finish the game in the bottom half of the frame.
Brownwood ended the game with five hits, eight walks, three batters beaned and Wichita Falls committed just one error.
Huntsinger tripled, Valdez doubled and both drove in three to pace the Lions’ offense, while Brandstetter also doubled. Markham and Taylor Bessent contributed singles.
On the mound, Noah Gonzalez started and yielded five runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and four walks over four innings. Miller pitched the final 4.1 innings and surrendered three runs on two hits with six strikeouts and a pair of walks. Brownwood’s defense committed eight errors from six different positions on the field.
The Lions had their chances early to seize the momentum, leaving five runners stranded in their first three trips to the plate.
In the top of the first, Brandstetter doubled with one out but was left at second base. The second saw Markham reach on a two-out infield single followed by back-to-back walks to Wright and Ybarra, but the inning ended with three Lions on the base paths. Then in the third, Miller was hit by a pitch with two outs and remained at first base.
Wichita Falls then struck for two runs in the bottom of the third as Vanderburg reached on an error and Milstead drew a walk ahead of consecutive RBI base hits by Rice and Boone, as the Coyotes opened a 2-0 lead.
Brownwood yielded three more runs in the fourth inning, committing three errors in the frame, to face a 5-0 deficit, and Wichita Falls tacked on single runs in the fifth and sixth.
Wichita Falls advances to face District 6 third seed Glen Rose (20-11-1) – who the Lions defeated two out of three times in league play this season – as the Tigers swept District 8 champion Springtown (19-10) in their area playoff series, 4-1 and 4-3.
The Lions finished their season with their first bi-district championship since 2019, and first under Harris’ tutelage.
“We’ve got nine seniors on this team that are the backbone of what we do,” Harris said. “I don’t know why, but they stuck with me, and I want to thank them for sticking with us through the ups and the downs of the last four years. I would like to think in that time I’ve changed as a person and a coach and there’s no doubt that those nine men had a hand in it.”
