Cardinals and Bobcats still leaders in their respective baseball districts

The District 19-4A standings got a little tighter last week with the results from games involving local teams. The Bridge City Cardinals split their two games and the Little Cypress Mauriceville Bears swept their opponent in a pair of games.

The Cardinals are still atop the district standings, but suffered their first district loss on Friday, April 5, at Chuck Young Field. The Vidor Pirates came to Bridge City and left after winning 7-2 over the first place Cardinals.

The loss has to be a disappointment for the Cardinals as they handed the Pirates four unearned runs in the first inning because of two throwing errors to second base on routine ground balls. A fifth Vidor run scored in the second inning when Westin Baker came home from second base on a single by Daigan Venable as the ball bounced past the Bridge City left fielder resulting in no opportunity to attempt to throw out Baker at the plate.

There were multiple chances that the Cardinals failed to capitalize on themselves. Bridge City out hit Vidor eight to four and twice had base hits when two were out with a runner in scoring position that failed to produce a run.

The first instance occurred in the third as Landon Reeves singled for the Cardinals with two on and two out. Pirate left fielder Tanner Hanks made a perfect throw to nail Austin Frederick at the plate to end the inning.

The second time happened in the sixth inning as Gavin Bodin, who drove in the second Bridge City run in the second inning, got his second hit of the game with Reeves at second and Jace Ramirez at first. Reeves was given the stop sign at third base to avoid being cut down by another accurate throw from Hanks. The Cardinals left the bases loaded.

Venable was the hitting star of the night for Vidor reaching base all four times he came to bat. His last time up in the seventh Venable lined a drive over the left field fence for a two run homer that pretty much sealed the deal for the Pirates.

Aiden Sims was the pitching star for the Pirates working five and two third innings to get the win. Bryce Bushelle threw the last inning and a third yielding only a walk and striking out one Cardinal.

Bridge City starting pitcher Landon Reeves deserved better luck as he only gave up two hits in five innings and struck out six. Five runs scored against him, but all were unearned according to the official scorer.

The Cardinals fared better on Tuesday, April 2, edging the Pirates 14-13 at Vidor. The Pirates scored three runs in the sixth to close the gap to one run and left the tying runner at third. In the seventh Bridge City pitcher Austin Frederick picked a Pirate off at first base to preserve the one run triumph.

Several Cardinals had good nights with bats. Hutch Bearden was two for two including a homerun, scored three runs, and drove in three runs. CJ Riojas and John Van Huis both had two hits while Frederick reached base three times, scored two runs, and had three runs batted in.

The Little Cypress Mauriceville Bears had a great week taking two from the Lumberton Raiders. The Bear batters banged the normally strong Raider pitching for eight runs in both games.

The Bears won at Lumberton 8-5 on Tuesday. Landon Richards got the start on the mound for LCM going four innings, allowing one earned run, and struck out eight Raiders to earn the win.

Richards also hit a homerun to help his own cause. Justin McCarver and Parker Freeman both had two hits for the Bears with McCarver driving in three runs while Freeman knocked in two.

The second game on Friday was at Don Gibbens Field. LCM defeated Lumberton 8-2 behind the complete game pitching of Jacob Scheiderer who struck out eight and walked only one Lumberton batter.

The Bears used a six run second inning to take the early lead. Parker Freeman drove in three more runs in this game, and Parker Seago had two rbis. Scheiderer and Justin McCarver had a pair of hits apiece.

The West Orange-Stark Mustangs had their bye last week. The Mustangs resumed action on Tuesday at Silsbee and play the Tigers at Ronnie Anderson Park on Friday night, April 12.

Bridge City, Little Cypress Mauriceville, and West Orange-Stark each have three two game series or six games remaining in District 19-4A. The Cardinals at 5-1 are in first place ahead of the Vidor Pirates who are 5-3 and have just four games left to play. The Bears evened their record at 3-3 with their two wins. The Mustangs are 1-5 in district.

This week Bridge City plays Lumberton twice first at home on Tuesday and then on the road Friday. LCM battled the Jasper Bulldogs on Tuesday before going to Jasper for the second game on Friday.

The Orangefield Bobcats extended their district winning streak to eight games improving to 8-1 in District 21-3A and maintaining their hold on first place. Both games were shortened by the mercy rule as the Bobcats had a better than fifteen run lead in one and were ten runs ahead in the other.

Orangefield clobbered Kirbyville 11-1 on Tuesday. Kane Smith, Cameron Dearing, and Caleb Fregia each collected two hits while Fregia and Carson Worthy both had two runs batted in.

Kaleb Menard pitched a complete game going five innings. Menard yielded two hits, allowed one run, and struck out six Wildcats.

Friday's game was even more one sided for the Bobcats as they bombed the East Chambers Buccaneers 16-0 in three innings. Garrett Rawls got the win on the mound surrendering a lone hit and striking out four in his three innings of pitching.

The Bobcat bats were all busy banging the ball by the Buccaneers. Kane Smith, Logan Cheek, Caleb Fregia, and Adam Tran each had a pair of hits with Smith, Fregia, and Carson Gonzales driving in multiple runs for Orangefield.

Both games for Orangefield this week will be at Paul Cormier Field. Tuesday's game was against the Warren Warriors, and the Bobcats play the Buna Cougars on Friday night.