A pair of victories against Class 6A San Angelo Central slipped away from the Brownwood Lions Thursday, as the Bobcats rallied for wins of 3-1 and 6-2 to sweep a non-district baseball doubleheader at Morris Southall Field.
In the nightcap, the Lions held a 2-1 lead with one out in the top of the seventh inning before yielding five runs that resulted in a Central win. In the opener, a potential inning-ending double play that wasn’t handled cleanly was followed by a three-RBI double in top of the fifth inning, which fueled the other Bobcat victory.
“There were some moments when we were playing some pretty good baseball,” said Lions head coach Blake Sandford. “And the moments where we weren’t playing pretty good baseball ended up biting us. We’ve got to stop those moments and get better, and get better in a hurry.”
Of the nine runs Central scored, eight were unearned as the Lions committed five errors over the two contests. In the opener, Harrison Sweeney pitched all seven innings and surrendered three unearned runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and one walk. The second game saw Austin Wright work 6.1 innings before Noah Gonzalez notched the final two outs, with one earned run yielded on eight hits with five strikeouts and four walks.
“Pitching did great but we have to be able to back it up,” Sandford said. “You can’t make one play and then take off a play. We have to make all our plays. We can’t expect the pitchers to strike everybody out, so we have to play better defense. It’s a desire and a mental deal, and we have to be better and tougher mentally.”
In the second game, the Lions grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning as Wyatt Wolf – who tallied four hits in the two games – led off the frame with a single and moved to second base on a ground out by Austin Pittman. Antonio Ybarra then lined a single into left field, which was bobbled, allowing Wolf to race home with the first run. Ybarra moved to second base on infield single by Wright, and Robbie Robinson’s RBI single to right field plated Ybarra.
Early on, Wright picked off a base runner at second base and Robinson threw out three potential base stealers at second to help Brownwood preserve the lead.
Central closed the gap to 2-1 in the top of the sixth as Jimmy Edwards reached on a single and an error in left field, then moved to third base on a single by Aiden Perez. There, a wild pitch on the first pitch to Michael Duran allowed Edwards to score.
In the top of the seventh, Wright retired the first batter for the Lions but JJ Reyes reached on an infield bloop single and Colter Farmer walked. Judson Bright followed with a ball that bounded off the first baseman and into the outfield that allowed Reyes to score the tying run. Following a walk to Cooper Holland, Edwards reached on an error in the outfield that allowed Farmer to score the go-ahead run. Holland then crossed the plate thanks to a wild pitch during the at-bat of Perez, whose two-RBI double essentially put the game out of reach.
In Thursday’s first game, the Lions opened a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first as Pittman walked, stole second base, then came home after advancing to third on a passed ball, coupled with a wild throw to the bag by the catcher. Wright and Robinson added base hits in the first inning, but Brownwood couldn’t tack on another run.
After turning a pair double plays earlier in the game, the Lions had the chance for a third after Jaxson Kennedy and Duran both singled with one out in the fifth. But a grounder by Edwards was instead mishandled to load the bases, and Mason Van Sickle immediately followed with a bases-clearing triple to generate all the runs for the Bobcats.
The Lions (7-7) will host Class 6A Odessa High in another doubleheader at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Regarding the goals for Saturday’s two games, Sandford said, “We need to see more desire to do well and overcome bad moments fast, quickly, and not let them spin on us.”
