Tigers Slide by Lions for District Title
Centerville 9 Lovelady 8
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
LOVELADY -This is the way a title should be decided – in a playoff between the best two teams in the district. Such was the case on Friday afternoon when the Centerville Tigers rolled into Lovelady to take on the Lions in contest to see who would claim the District 21-2A Championship.
The game was close throughout, but a three-run sixth inning from the Tigers was more than the Lions could withstand as Centerville pulled out a 9-8 win and secured the number one seeding as the two teams prepare for the postseason.
Carter Murray got the start for Lovelady and ran into a little trouble in the first inning. Kasen Jeitz led off the game for the Tigers with a single to right. Dillon Denman was up next and popped up to second for the inning’s first out.
Sully Hill came up to bat and on a 0-1 count, Jeitz attempted to steal. Slade Murray was behind the plate and threw a frozen rope down to second where Jayton Crawford applied the tag to Jeitz for the second out.
Hill reached first on a dropped third strike and raced home on a Cameron Pate double. A walk to James Bodine put runners on first and second but Brant Roberts hit a pitch to third where EJ Sandoval gobbled it up for the final out of the inning.
Hill was on the mound for Centerville and barely escaped a big inning from the Lions. He walked S. Murray to open the frame but came back to force Sandoval to pop up to second. C. Murray was up next and during his at-bat, S. Murray stole second.
On a 3-2 pitch, however, Hill caught Murray looking at strike three. Next up was Jaxon Reeves who was hit by a pitch and moved to first. Matthew Wheeler followed in the batting order, but Hill handcuffed him at the plate, striking him out to end the inning.
When the Tigers came in from the field, they plated three runs to open up a 4-0 lead. C. Murray struck out the first two batters he faced in the second – Halston French and Evan Neubauer – but then a walk along with a pair of errors allowed Centerville to extend their lead.
Cooper Fisher drew a walk and advanced to third on an infield error which allowed Jeitz to reach first. Denman was up next and beat out a throw to first for an infield single which drove in Fisher and moved Jeitz to second.
Hill followed with a double which pushed Jeitz and Denman across the dish to make it 4-0, but C. Murray came back to force Pate to ground out to third and end the Tigers’ half of the inning.
The Lions came roaring back in their half of the second to cut the lead to 4-3. Hill struck out Caleb Gilchrist to open the inning but found himself in a pickle shortly afterwards.
Brenton Crawford singled up the middle and moved to second on an error when Troy Shupak’s pop up was misplayed. A wild pitch moved Crawford and Shupak up a base, while a five-pitch walk to Jayton Crawford loaded the bases.
S. Murray was up next and grounded into a force at second which drove in B. Crawford to cut the lead to 4-1. Sandoval followed in the order and drew a walk to re-load the bases. That brought up C. Murray who had blasted two grand slams in the same game just over a week ago.
Rather than adding to his HR total, Centerville walked the big senior which pushed Shupak across the plate. Hill followed that with a walk to Reeves which allowed S. Murray to trot home and make the score 4-3.
That was all she wrote for Hill as he was relieved by Bodine who did his job as he got Wheeler to fly out to center and end the Lions’ threat.
The Tigers struck back in the top of the third as they scored twice to take a 6-3 lead. Bodine led of with a single and Canon Earley came in for him as a courtesy runner. Roberts was up next and reached on an error which moved Earley to third and allowed Roberts to slide into second.
French followed with a single to center to drive in the two base runners and put Centerville up by three. C. Murray regrouped, however, as he got Neubauer to ground into a force at second while S. Murray threw out his second baserunner of the game when Neubauer tried to steal. Fisher was up next and grounded out to first, retiring the side.
Bodine held Lovelady in check in the bottom of the third and C. Murray did the same in the top of the fourth. When the Lions came in to bat in the bottom of the fourth, however, they tied things up at six.
After a S. Murray groundout to open the bottom of the fourth, Sandoval followed with a single to left. C. Murray also singled and when Reeves was hit by a pitch, the bases were loaded for Wheeler.
He slapped a shot towards third that was booted for an error allowing Sandoval and C. Murray to cross the plate while Reeves moved to second. After Gilchrist fanned, B. Crawford delivered a single to center.
On the throw in from the outfield, Reeves scored, Wheeler took third and B. Crawford moved to second. That was all the Lions could get in the inning as Shupak grounded out, but after four innings were complete, the score stood tied at six.
C. Murray had a fairly easy top of the fifth and when the Lions came in from the field, they took their first lead of the game. J. Crawford led things off with a single and moved to third on an S. Murray double. Sandoval walked and that was it for Bodine as he was relieved on the mound by Roberts with the bases loaded.
With C. Murray at the plate, Roberts threw a 2-0 pitch that C. Murray connected on and lofted it to deep right field. J. Crawford tagged up on the play and scampered home to make the score 7-6 in favor of Lovelady.
An error at second base allowed Sandoval to cross the dish, while S. Murray motored home and Sandoval moved to second. Wheeler popped out to center, but at the end of five, Lovelady led 8-6.
The lead was short-lived, however, as the Tigers would cross the plate three times in the top of the sixth to take a 9-8 lead.
Fisher opened the inning with a bunt single to first which chased C. Murray from the mound as Lovelady brought in Sandoval. A second bunt from Jeitz, along with a third consecutive bunt from Denman loaded the bases.
Sandoval walked Hill which pushed Fisher across the dish and then Pate hit a sacrifice fly which allowed Jeitz to tag up and score. A wild pitch moved Denman to third and Hill to second. Pate also lofted a sacrifice fly to center which allowed Denman to tag up and trot home, making the score 9-8. Sandoval was able to force Roberts to fly out, but the damage was done as Centerville reclaimed the lead.
Try as they might, Lovelady was unable to generate any offense in the final two innings as the Tigers held on to win by a final score of 9-8 and claim the District 21-2A Championship.
Roberts picked up the win for the Tigers as he worked three innings in relief and gave up only one hit. Sandoval took the loss after he worked two innings and gave up two runs on three hits. He also struck out one and walked one.
At the plate, Hill was 1-3 with three RBI and a run scored while Lovelady’s B. Crawford was 2-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
Centerville will now face the Groveton Indians in the first round of the playoffs while Lovelady will take on the Cushing Bearkats. The times, dates and places of both games have yet to be determined.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
