Coming off back-to-back shutouts in their final two outings prior to Tuesday night’s District 6-4A baseball opener at Morris Southall Field, the Brownwood Lions’ offense continued to sputter in a 6-2 loss to the Glen Rose Tigers to open league play.
Plagued by 14 strikeouts, 11 runners stranded on base and four errors, the Lions slipped to 1-6 for the season and 0-1 in the 12-game 6-4A slate.
“If I had to sum this one up, we just couldn’t get out of our own way,” said Lions third-year head coach Bryan Harris. “We’d kicked the ball around in the infield after we’d get a couple of outs and we gave up some runs because of that. And we left the bases loaded twice and didn’t get anything out of that.
“I’m not discouraged, I’m disappointed because they have it in them. They fight hard, they work hard and for whatever reason right now it’s not coming together on the field for them. Whenever they find their confidence in themselves, then things are going to be different for them.”
Gavin Brandstetter pitching 6.1 innings for the Lions before succumbing to the pitch count, striking out 14 and yielding three unearned runs on three hits.
“Gavin did a great job,” Harris said. “That’s the best I’ve ever seen him throw. He settled down after that first inning and was lights out. He got locked in and said you guys get on my back and lets go win this thing.”
Offensively, the Lions drew nine walks but recorded just three hits – a second-inning two-out infield single by Jordyn Nickerson, a third-inning RBI infield single by Brandstetter, and a fourth-inning two-out RBI infield single by Case Markham.
But the Lions left the sacks full in the second and third innings, and later followed with a stretch of seven straight batters retired in order – including five via strikeout.
“There were so many called strike threes, just going down looking,” Harris said. “To me, that’s when a guy just stops competing and that’s not good. If you’ll compete and give me your best effort that’s all I can ask for, but we have to compete. In so many situations tonight we were passive at the plate, we were not aggressive at all. We need to change our approach and I need to change the way I am coaching them in that regard.”
Tied at 2 in the top of the fifth inning, Brandstetter recorded the first two outs of the inning – including notching his 10th strikeout – before consecutive errors during the at-bats of Christian DeLaCruz and Bodee Mausser permitted Glen Rose to score the go-ahead run.
Then, with one out in the top of the seventh, Damian Flores tripled to right field off Brownwood reliever Campbell Gilmore. With two outs, Mausser singled up the middle to stretch the lead to 4-2. After Cannon Harper was hit by a pitch, Jake Gilbreath then reached when Markham, the right fielder, slipped while flagging down a pop up, which boosted the lead to 5-2. Later, Harper scored on the back half of a double steal with Gilbreath.
Glen Rose grabbed a 2-0 lead thanks to single runs in the top of the first and second innings. DeLaCruz singled, Mausser walked and a passed ball and wild pitch resulted in the initial run of the game before Brandstetter recorded three straight strikeouts to escape the first.
In the second, Colton McDonald reached on a two-out dropped third strike coupled with a throwing error, while Flores immediately delivered an RBI double down the left field line.
The Lions closed the gap to 2-1 in the bottom of the second as Hataway and Cole Miller walked ahead of Brandstetter’s one-out RBI infield single. Logan Posey also drew a free pass to load the sacks before Glen Rose hurler Jake West – who fanned six and walked seven – shut down the Brownwood threat.
In the Lions’ fourth, Justin Valdez led off with a walk and later scored on Markham’s RBI infield single, but Brandt Fowler came on and relief and bottled up Brownwood the rest of the way, striking out eight and allowing just two walks to start the seventh inning – both of which were stranded.
The Lions resume District 6-4A action at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 15 at Lampasas, while Thursday through Saturday of this week Brownwood will compete in the Bowie tournament.
“We’ve got the arms, we’ve got the pitching staff, and our defense will come around,” Harris said. “We’ve got to find our stride at the plate and it we can do that things are going to go well for us.”
