Sandies Clinch Share of District Title

Grapeland Takes Down North Zulch, 9-7

By Will Johnson
Messenger Sports

NORTH ZULCH – The Grapeland Sandies clinched at least a share of the District 21-AA baseball championship with their 9-7 win over North Zulch on Tuesday, April 17.

The Sandies opened fast as they plated three runs in the first inning off of North Zulch Bulldog pitcher Michael Harris. Austin Driskell led off the game for the Sandies with a double into centerfield. He stole third on a 2-1 pitch to Dylan Duhon and scored when Duhon roped a single into right.

He wasn’t at first very long as Josh Ackley tripled into the gap in center to drive in Duhon. After Case Boyd grounded out, Ethan Peterson slapped a line drive into center to push Ackley across the dish and make the score 3-0.

M. Harris settled down after Ackley’s run and struck out Blake Howard and Cameron Navarette to end the Grapeland threat.

The Bulldogs offense struck back in the bottom of the inning. Driskell got the start for Grapeland and retired the first batter he faced – Cole Weaver – on a lazy fly ball to right. He followed that up with back-to-back walks to M. Harris and James O’Neal.

A wild pitch moved the runners up a base and when Tyler Wallace connected off of Driskell for a single, both M. Harris and O’Neal crossed the plate to cut the lead to 3-2.

Driskell managed to stem the rally as he struck out Kaleb Holder and then got Stephen Harris to pop up to short.

Grapeland was back at it in the second inning and they scored two more times to push their lead to 5-2. Cooper Sheridan led off the inning and was caught looking at strike three. BJ Lamb followed with a single to center and then Driskell drew a walk.

A double steal moved Lamb to third and Driskell to second. Duhon popped up for the inning’s second out, but Ackley came through with a clutch single to plate both Lamb and Driskell.

After Boyd singled, Ackley moved to second but a Peterson strikeout ended the Sandies half of the inning.

Once again, North Zulch fought back. Following a swinging strike out of Blake Housley, Driskell got Nolan Diserens to ground into a 6-3 force.

Scott Stewart was up next for the Bulldogs and drew a walk off of Driskell. Weaver followed and lined a single into right that was misplayed. Stewart was able score from first on the error while Weaver motored into third.

A single from M. Harris brought Weaver home and just like that the score was 5-4. After a four pitch walk to O’Neal, Driskell got Wallace to groundout to short to end the inning.

After a quiet top of the third from Grapeland, North Zulch tied the game at five. Driskell struck out Holder to open the bottom of the inning, but then walked S. Harris. Back-to-back hits from Housley and Diserens drove in S. Harris with the tying run, but Driskell calmed down after that long enough to strike out both Stewart and Weaver to end the inning.

The Sandies re-captured the lead in the top of the fourth as they scored three times to take an 8-5 lead. Driskell led off with a single, swiped second and then moved to third on a Duhon groundout. Ackley walked and then Driskell scored on a wild pitch. Ackley moved to second and scored on Peterson’s line drive into right.

On the same play, an error allowed Peterson to make it to third while a second error on the next batter – Howard – allowed him to cross the plate and make the 8-5.

After M. Harris recorded the final two outs of the Grapeland fourth, North Zulch battled back to cut the lead to one.

Driskell ran out of gas in the bottom of the inning as he hit M. Harris with a pitch and then walked both O’Neal, as well as Wallace. The Sandies made a pitching change and brought in Ackley from shortstop.

With very little time to warm up and facing a bases loaded situation, Ackley uncorked a wild pitch that allowed M. Harris to score. A second wild pitch let O’Neal cross the plate, advanced Wallace to third and made the score 8-7.

Ackley struck out Holder and when Wallace got a little greedy on a steal of home, he was picked off on a 2-1 play at the plate for the second out. After that, it seemed as if the wind had been taken out of the North Zulch sails.

A quiet fifth gave way to the sixth where Grapeland added an insurance run. The Bulldogs made a pitching change to S. Harris and Ackley promptly greeted him with a double and then stole third. Boyd followed in the batting order and hit into a groundout. On the play, however, Ackley scampered home to make the score 9-7.

After S. Harris recorded the final two outs in the top of the sixth, Ackley went back to the mound and was lights out. He forced O’Neal to fly out to right and then caught both Wallace and Holder looking at called third strikes.

Following a 1-2-3 top of the seventh for Grapeland, the Bulldogs mounted yet another comeback bid. This time, however, it was non-productive.

Ackley opened the final frame with a strikeout of S. Harris. He turned around and also got Housley to swing at and miss strike three.

With a pitch count looming and a showdown for the district championship hanging in the balance, the Sandies went to their bullpen (at third base) and brought in Peterson to relieve Ackley. The move nearly backfired.

Peterson gave up a single to Diserens and then yielded a double to Stewart. Fortunately, Peterson regrouped and got Weaver to hit into a 4-3 force to end the game and give the Sandies the 9-7 win, along with at least a share of the District 21-AA championship.

The Sandies now have a one game lead over the Lovelady Lions and Slocum Mustangs with one game left to play in district. Grapeland has defeated Slocum twice this season and Lovelady once. The Sandies and Lions will square off on Friday, April 20 at 6 p.m. in Lovelady. It’s a game that will go a long way in determining the seeding as both teams head into the playoffs.

If Grapeland wins, they are the outright district champions. If Lovelady wins, they will be tied with Grapeland for the district championship and will have split the season series 1-1. What happens after that is up to Grapeland Head Coach Cameron Besetzny and Lovelady Head Coach Richard Gunnels. There could be a coin flip or there could be a one-game playoff to determine seeding. Stay tuned!!

Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].