Sandies Come Up Short Against Cougars, 11-8
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
MADISONVILLE – The Grapeland Sandies were looking to close out their season with a win as they traveled to Madisonville to take on the Leon Cougars in a District 21-2A contest.
The Cougars had clinched a playoff berth but hoped to avoid falling to the fourth seed as they entered the postseason. The Sandies have had an up-and-down year and were looking to play the role of spoiler as the two teams took the field.
Leon jumped out early on the Sandies and led 7-0 after two but Grapeland came roaring back in the third to trim the lead to 7-5. Unfortunately, that was as close as the Sandies would get as the Cougars added two in the sixth and another two in the seventh to secure the win by a final of 11-8.
Because of the wet weather, the game was moved to the turf field of Madisonville and that seemed to affect the Sandies defense. Cooper Sheridan got the start for Grapeland and ran into trouble in the top of the first.
Sheridan walked Stran Copeland to open the game but came back to strike out Brock Bumpers and Logan Noey. A steal and a wild pitch had moved Copeland to third while a second wild pitch allowed Copeland to scamper home with the game’s first run.
Whether it was the lights, the weather or the turf, the Grapeland defense had a hard time fielding the ball. An error in the outfield allowed Jacob Robinson to reach first on a pop fly and take second on the play.
Dustin Watson followed with a grounder that was misplayed in the infield. The error allowed Robinson to score and for Watson to take third. Another error on a Ryan Bacak grounder let Watson cross the plate to make the score 3-0.
After a walk to Ethan Leggett, Sheridan got Jose Corrizales to line out to short and end the top of the first.
Copeland was on the mound for the Cougars and he opened the bottom half of the inning with a walk to Cole Goolsby. Jax Vickers followed with a fly out to right bringing Sheridan to the plate. On a 0-1 pitch, Goolsby swiped second and moved to third when Sheridan grounded out to short. That was as close as the Sandies would get to scoring in the first as Goolsby was picked off third to send the game into the second inning.
A pair of errors to open the second allowed Tyson Cornett to come around and score while Copeland slid into second. A sacrifice bunt moved Copeland to third and after Noey drew a walk, yet another error on the Sandies plated Copeland and Noey to make the score 6-0. The Cougars tacked on another run in the inning and then held Grapeland scoreless to end the second.
After Sheridan held Leon scoreless in the top of the third, Grapeland struck back. An infield error allowed Matthew Gardner to reach base and he moved to second on a Slade Harris single to left. Goolsby drew his second walk of the game and the Sandies were in business with the bases loaded and no outs.
Vickers was up next and singled to center to drive in Garner from third. Sheridan drew a walk which pushed Harris across the dish and that was it for Copeland as he was relieved on the mound by Bumpers.
Leon’s new pitcher had trouble finding the strike zone as he walked DeCluette to force in Goolsby and cut the lead to 7-3. Navarette was next in the batting order and he roped a double to left, driving in Vickers and Sheridan while moving DeCluette to third.
Bumpers seemed to settle down after the double as he struck out Jayce Elliott, forced Jacob Vaden to ground out and then caught Gardner swinging at strike three to end the inning, with the score now 7-5.
In the top of the fourth, Navarette relieved Sheridan for Grapeland and after giving up a walk and a single to open the inning, Navarette retired the next three batters he faced to bring the Sandies back in to bat.
Unfortunately, Grapeland was unable to build on the momentum of the third inning as they went down in order during the fourth.
After an easy top of the fifth for Navarette, the Sandies threatened once again in the bottom of the inning but couldn’t get anyone across the plate. Sheridan led off with a single but was called out at second when DeCluette hit into a double play. Navarette followed with a triple but was stranded at third when Elliott popped up.
In the sixth inning, the Cougars extended their lead to 9-5. Bumpers led off the Leon at-bat with a groundout to third. Yet another error allowed Noey to reach base and he took second when Robinson grounded out.
A double from Watson plated Noey to make the score 8-5. After that, Navarette got a little wild. He plunked Bacack, walked Leggett and then hit Corrizales with the bases loaded to push Watson across the dish. Fortunately, he regained his control to force Cornett to tap back to the mound for a 1-3 force at first.
When the Sandies came in from the field, they also crossed the plate twice to stay within striking distance.
Vaden and Gardner both walked to open the bottom of the sixth. Harris followed in the batting order and hit a shot that was booted, allowing Vaden to score and moving Gardner to second. Goolsby laced a single into left to load the bases and that was all she wrote for Bumpers as Noey came on in relief.
Vickers hit into a fielder’s choice to drive in Gardner and make the score 9-7, but that was as close as the Sandies would get as both Sheridan and DeCluette struck out looking to end the sixth.
Leon would add two more runs in the seventh and while Grapeland would threaten once again in the bottom of the seventh, they could only generate a single run as they fell to Leon by a final score of 11-8.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected]
