Bears edge Tigers in district opener, 6-5
The Wills Point Tigers baseball team saw its hopes of beginning District 14-4A play with a win end in extra innings March 16 with a 6-5 loss to the Brownsboro Bears.
Brownsboro capitalized on Tiger wildness in the top of the second inning to take an early lead. The inning began with a Bear batter reaching first via a hit by pitch, and then runners advancing to a second and third situation with a double. Wills Point managed to get a foul out to keep Brownsboro off the scoreboard before a pickoff attempt of the runner on third base led to a breakdown on the ensuing rundown attempt that led directly to Brownsboro’s first run.
The Bears tacked on another run moments later on an RBI groundout to double their lead to 2-0.
After being held scoreless in each of the first two innings, Wills Point broke through on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third inning. Leadoff hitter Jarred Sanford opened the inning by delivering a hard single to left field. After a Chuck Smith sacrifice advance Sanford to second, Wills Point received a break courtesy of a Brownsboro error that allowed Sanford to move to third and Caden Bennett to move to second base.
Hosea Carroll promptly loaded the bases with a walk, and Sanford eventually came home on a Seth Wilson RBI walk.
Jayton Oldacre followed with a sacrifice fly to right field that scored two Tigers, giving Wills Point a 3-2 lead after three innings of play.
Brownsboro trailed until the bottom of the fifth inning when the Bears strung together back-to-back singles, a groundout, a hit by pitch, and another single for two more runs and a 4-3 lead over the Tigers.
The Bears tacked on an insurance run to their lead in the top of the sixth inning courtesy of an RBI double to take a 5-3 lead over Wills Point.
The Tigers wasted little time in pulling back even, tallying two runs in the bottom of the sixth to tie the score once again.
Freshman Jayton Oldacre began the inning by drawing a walk and advanced to second on a Logan Morris single.
The Tigers eventually loaded the bases before a Jared Sanford bases loaded walk pulled Wills Point to within 5-4, and an RBI groundout by Chuck Smith tied the score at 5-5.
Neither team scored in the seventh inning, setting the stage for an extra inning district opener for the Tigers. Brownsboro drew first blood against Wills Point, putting two runners on with no outs in the top of the eighth courtesy of back-to-back walks. Both runners advanced on a sacrifice where an RBI single by the Bears put Brownsboro in front 6-5.
The Tigers got out of the jam in the top of the eighth without any additional damage before grounding out in all three at bats in the bottom of the eighth to end the game.
Leading hitters for Wills Point in the loss included Logan Morris going 2/4 with a run scored, Jarred Sanford going 1/4 with an RBI and a run scored, Seth Wilson going 1/3 with an RBI, Caden Bennett going 1/4 with a run scored, and Jayton Oldacre driving in two and walking once in four trips to the plate.
Hosea Carroll got the start on the mound for the Tigers, pitching 5 2/3 innings while allowing seven hits, seven walks and five earned runs. Carroll struck out six Brownsboro batters. Riley Ramsey pitched 2 1/3 innings of relief, allowing one earned run while striking out two.
The Tigers will look to pick up their first district win of the season March 18 when they host the 2-0 Van Vandals. Van opened district play with a 2-1 win over Emory Rains and a 7-4 win over Canton earlier this week.
Other upcoming Wills Point games are set to include a road date against Emory Rains March 22, and a return trip home to take on the Canton Eagles March 25.
