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The Brownwood Lions were dominant from start to finish in ac10-0, six-inning triumph over the Clyde Bulldogs Tuesday night in a game that was moved earlier this week to Morris Southall Field.
The Lions scored in five of six innings, recording eight hits and capitalizing on six Clyde errors, while Gavin Brandstetter and Luke Gray teamed up to toss a three-hit shutout.
“I saw some guys out here having fun,” said Lions fourth-year head coach Brian Harris. “They were loose before the game, and they were loose during the game and it showed in how they played. They were focused and we got off to really good start. I think that was really the key, the guys were really relaxed.”
Brandstetter gave up just two hits and struck out 11 over five innings, while Gray tossed the sixth inning and surrendered only a lead-off single.
“Gavin threw a really good game and we played pretty clean behind him with just one error,” Harris said. “I really liked the way we stayed locked into the game and played hard.”
Offensively, the Lions struck for one run in the first inning, two in the second, four in the third, two more in the fourth, and enforced the run rule in the bottom of the sixth.
“I can’t be more proud of what we’re doing at the plate with the exception of leaving runners,” Harris said, as the Lions stranded seven on the sacks. “There was one inning where we had bases loaded and no outs and didn’t get anything out of that. That’s something we’re emphasizing, but we have to keep growing and get better. We have to help guys understand in those situations what we want from them.”
During Brownwood’s first inning, Case Markham drew a lead-off walk and eventually scored on a wild pitch during Logan Posey’s two-out at-bat.
In the second inning for the Lions, Campbell Gilmore and David Turner reached on consecutive Clyde miscues, then a third error in a row by the Bulldogs during Antonio Ybarra’s two-out at-bat allowed the base runners to score.
Brownwood pushed the lead to 7-0 on the third inning as Brandstetter reached on an error to start the frame, then Cole Miller was hit by a pitch. Posey followed with an RBI sacrifice fly ahead of a single to right field by Owen Huntsinger. Taylor Bessent then ripped a two-RBI triple into the outfield, and later scored on a wild pitch during Turner’s at-bat.
In the fourth for the Lions, Markham doubled with one out and Brandstetter followed with a walk and both scored on Huntsinger’s two-RBI single.
The Lions loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth on a walk by Turner and back-to-back singles from Ybarra and Markham, but didn’t score.
However, in the sixth inning, Huntsinger reached on an error to start the frame and scored on a game-ending RBI sac fly by Austin Wright.
The Lions (5-2) will compete in their first two games at the Stephenville tournament Thursday at 10 a.m. against Boyd and at noon against Decatur.
“We’ve put two really good games together, now let’s go put a third game together,” Harris said. “I want to see consistency from the guys and see if they come out with the same energy they had tonight, the same level of focus. If we continue to throw strikes and do what we’re doing on the mound, our guys are going to give us a chance to stay in it and win it at some point. If we can remain consistent and continue to get better at the little things like we did tonight, we should be ready to go when district gets here next week.”
The opener in the 12-game District 6-4A slate for the Lions is Tuesday, March 7 at Mineral Wells.
