Orangefield boys sweep Pollok Central

Orangefield opened its run in the post season with two impressive wins over the Pollok Central Bulldogs. The Bobcats won both games by scores of 13-3 at the Hal McClelland Sports Complex in Cleveland.

The first game on Friday night saw the Bulldogs actually jump out to the initial lead. Three base hits resulted in Central taking a 1-0 lead after the top of the first inning.

Leadoff batter Kane Smith singled to spark a seven-run outburst for the Bobcats in the bottom half of the first inning. Walks and three Bulldog errors contributed to Orangefield going into the lead 7-1 after one.

Central brought in its third pitcher Wyatt Graham a left hander. Graham kept the Bulldogs in the game for the next four innings.

The Bulldogs cut the Bobcat lead to four runs in the third with two runs. Ryan Kennedy and Graham scored on a single to center by Russell Reid. Bobcat shortstop Caleb Fregia stopped an even bigger inning for Central with a diving catch of a blooper to center that turned into a double play when he rifled a throw to first base before Reid could get back after running towards second.

The Bobcats loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the third. Smith scored again when Rusten Traxler was awarded first base when during a swing his bat was deflected by the Central catcher's glove for catcher's interference.

Fregia was hit by a pitch to start the bottom of the fourth for Orangefield. Caleb scored on a suicide squeeze as Smith made an excellent effort to get his bat on a pitch out of the strike zone for a superb bunt which Kane beat out for a rbi single that gave the Bobcats a 9-3 lead.

Central's Graham walked Orangefield's Kyle Michael to begin the bottom of the fifth and was relieved by Colt Wilson. The new Bulldog pitcher only recorded one out of the next six Bobcat batters with two reaching on errors, two getting base on balls, and a hit batter to score three runs. Smith ended the game with another walk to force in Fregia to invoke the 10-run rule.

Brycen Tait was the Bobcat pitcher. Tait did a workman like job throwing all five innings to earn Orangefield the victory.

Coach Tim Erickson of Orangefield commented on the win. "I don't think we played our best. We jumped out early putting up a bunch of runs in the first inning and may have gotten a little complacent there, kind of let them hang around through the middle of the game. We took advantage of a lot of walks late. The score doesn't really indicate that it was a lot closer game than the final showed," Erickson analyzed.

The final game of the series was played Saturday afternoon and followed a similar script to the first game. Nine Bobcats scored in the first inning to take a commanding lead over the Bulldogs.

Kane Smith again had a hand in the big rally with the first of his two hits in the game. Rusten Traxler and Kyle Michael both hit doubles. Morgan Sampson and Adam Tran drew key walks during the first inning.

The Bobcats banged out 12 hits in the game. Logan Cheek, Camden Fountain, Smith, Sampson, and Traxler all had two hits for Orangefield.

Jason Bodin was a little sick on Friday and did not pitch, but felt better on Saturday. Bodin threw three innings to get credit for the win. Garrett Rawls and Colton Myers closed out the game in relief for the Bobcats.

The series sweep improved Orangefield's record to 25-4 on the season. The Bobcats play the Wallis Brazos Cougars in the area round. The best of three game series will be played at Crosby High School with Game 1 Thursday at 7:00 PM, Game 2 will be Friday at 7:00 PM, and a third game if necessary would be on Saturday at a time to be determined. All tickets are $5 and sold online only.