The Record Newspapers - Hometown News For Orange County, Texas

Joey Encalade

Hometown Baseball

For The Record

Another fantastic season has come to an end in Orange County baseball and for the Bridge City Cardinals. The Robinson Rockets swept the region semi-final series 2-0. In Coach Landry’s first three years, the Cardinals have reached this round every year. The Cardinals ended their season record with an 8-2 record and the district title for their twentieth time in school history, and a 21-12-1 overall record.

Bridge City lost the first region semifinal game 8-1 against the Rockets. The Rockets used eight hits to score their runs. They scored one run in the first inning, four runs in the second inning, and three in the fifth inning. Rockets’ star pitcher Chad Hollingsworth kept the Cardinals in check; pitching a complete game giving up five hits, walking two, and striking out ten.

The Cardinals scored their only run in the third inning. Brandon Simoneaux hit a single, went to second on a Matt Menard single, took third on a pass ball, and scored on a Hollingsworth balk. Zach Smith, Matt Menard and Dylan Mulhollan both had singles in the contest.

Jacob Lemoine pitched one and two-thirds innings giving up four hits, walking three, and striking out two. Hayden Guidry pitched two and two-thirds innings giving up two hits, walking one, and striking out one. Preston Pittman finished the game with two and two-thirds innings, giving up two hits, walking one, and striking out five.

Game Two of the playoff series was a wild and crazy game; a game with twenty-five runs scored and twenty-nine base hits.

The Cardinals struck first with a four run second inning, only to see the Rockets counter with three in the bottom of the inning. Bridge City scored three more in the top of the third to Robinsons’ one to take a 7-4 lead. In the fourth, Bridge City scored one, while Robinson added five in the bottom to take a 9-8 lead. The Cardinals reclaimed the lead in the fifth inning, by putting up three runs. They kept Robinson off of the board for an 11-9 ball game. Robinson returned the favor to Bridge City and kept the Cardinals off the board in the sixth, and scored one run in their bottom half of the inning, to narrow the lead to 11-10.

In the seventh inning, the Cardinals scored to take a 12-10 lead heading into the bottom of the inning, but the Rockets loaded the bases and Rockets’ hitter Hunter Abbe hit a walk off, bases clearing double to take the wild game 13-12.

The Rockets will face LaGrange in the regional finals.

Bridge City senior Forrest Zoch pitched into the seventh inning, giving up thirteen hits, walking five, and striking out four. Hayden Guidry entered the game with two on in the seventh. He walked the first batter he faced to load the bases before giving up the double to Abbe. Zoch added a two run homer in the second inning. Bryce Sampere and Cameron Dishon each had three hits in the game. Sampere with a double and two singles, and Dishon with three singles. Dylan Mulhollan and Preston Pitman both had two hits apiece, a double and a single. Brandon Simoneaux had two singles, and Zach Smith and Matt Menard each had a single.

I would like to congratulate Coach Landry, Coach Laird, Coach Moore, and the Cardinals team for another nice run in the playoffs. The Cardinals say goodbye to six seniors, Taylor Day, Brandon Simoneaux, Jason Broussard, Forrest Zoch, Anthony Rodriguez and Dylan Mulhollan as they move on to another phase of their lives. It’s been another fun and exciting year.

See you at the park! (Next year)

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