Leopards Split Baseball Games Versus Smithville
The La Grange baseball team probably outplayed Smithville for 13 of the 14 innings of their doubleheader Thursday.
But one rough inning allowed the Tigers to come away with a split, and stay ahead of the Leps for second place in District 20-4A.
“We beat them every inning but one, but that’s the tough thing about this game,” said La Grange head coach Robert Barber.
La Grange dominated the first game 6-1 as Wyatt Wick threw 6.2 innings of one-run baseball with nine strikeouts.
“I thought I did pretty good, started everybody off with strike and that helped me get my curveball going, my defense helped me out a lot,” said Wick. “Smithville always comes to play, you have to bring your ‘A’ game. Both teams were chirping at each other. You have to bring the emotion to get the big outs.”
Cameron Kruse, Wick, Trenton Barnes and Bennett Barber all had two hits in the opener. Kruse and Wick hit triples. Barnes and Clay Wolff hit doubles.
The second game started as well as the first as La Grange scored two runs in the top of the first, but Smithville scored five runs on their half of the first. They never scored again, but never lost that lead.
“We gave that second game away,” Barber said. “Making plays behind our pitcher has been our Achilles Heel all year long and it was again tonight.”
Kruse had another two-hit game in the nightcap with two doubles. Wick had an inside-the-park homer and Barber and Ryder Imhoff hit doubles in the second game.
Kadyn Hall drove in two runs.
Clay Wolff was strong in that second game in relief of starting pitcher Hall. Wolff hurled 5.1 scoreless innings of relief with four strikeouts.
Down by one run in the seventh, La Grange loaded the bases with two outs via a walk, an error and a hit-by-pitch, but couldn’t complete the comeback.
The Leps are now 13-11 overall and 5-3 in district. Smithville is two games ahead of the Leps in the district standings, but has not played district-leading and state-ranked Giddings yet. The Tigers play Giddings twice next week, while the Leps play at last-place LBJ Tuesday before hosting them Friday at 7 p.m.
It’s not a stretch to think La Grange and Smithville could end the regular season tied for the runner-up spot in District 20- 4A, and these two teams could face one another again in a postseason tiebreaker.
There would be a significant difference between the difficulty of playoff draws for the teams that finish second and third from District 20-4A.