Sandies Rally in Sixth for 8-6 Victory
Grapeland Opens District Play with Win
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
GRAPELAND – The Grapeland Sandies opened play in District 21-2A on Saturday afternoon against their in-county rival, the Lovelady Lions. The Sandies, under new Head Coach Brock LeMire, had not gotten off to the start they had hoped for as they came into the contest with a 2-5-1 record. The Lions were also struggling somewhat as they opened the season with a 3-2-1 mark.
The frigid conditions, wind and rain experienced in Houston County on Friday forced the contest to move to Saturday. It also wiped the slate clean as league play began with everyone sitting at 0-0.
Lovelady seized the early lead but Grapeland came storming back to take a 6-2 lead in the bottom of the fourth only to see the Lions tie things up in the top of the sixth. After letting several games slip away before league play began, the Sandies were not open to let the district opener get away from them as they plated two runs in the bottom of the sixth while Payton Prater worked a 1-2-3 seventh inning to pick up the save and help Grapeland secure the 8-6 win.
Cole Goolsby was on the mound to start the game for Grapeland and he got off to a rocky start. On his second pitch, Slade Murray slapped a double into centerfield. An error on the play allowed him to move to third and when JJ Crawford lofted a fly ball into center, Murray was able to tag up and come home.
After Crawford made the first out, Goolsby seemed to shake off the district-opening jitters as he struck out both Caleb Gilchrist and Brady Mikes to bring the top half of the inning to a close.
Gilchrist got the nod for the Lions and worked a fairly easy inning. He forced Slade Harris to ground into a 5-3 force at first and then got Payton Prater to fly out to center. Goolsby reached on an error in the outfield but Jason DeCluette grounded out to short to end the frame with the Lions ahead 1-0.
Goolsby was sharp in the second inning as he only needed 10 pitches to retire the side. He caught Troy Shupak and Matt McFarland looking at strike three while he got Tyler Gilchrist to swing at a pitch out of the strike zone for his fifth K in two innings.
The Sandies took the lead when they came in from the field. Jax Vickers led off the bottom of the second with a single past short and then stole second. A wild pitch moved him to third and when Johnny Lamb was hit by a pitch, Grapeland had runners at the corners with nobody out.
Jayce Elliott was up next and reached on error in the outfield. He took second on the play as the miscue allowed Vickers to score while Lamb moved to third.
Grapeland now had runners at second and third with nobody out but Gilchrist managed to shut down a big inning from the Sandies. Jacob Vaden was next up but was thrown out at first after a dropped third strike. He got Rickie Gilmore to pop up back to the mound for the second out and it looked like he might get out of the inning without any further damage. On a 1-0 count to Harris, however, Gilchrist uncorked a wild pitch which allowed Lamb to trot home from third, giving the Sandies a 2-1 lead. The pitch also moved Elliott to third but Harris popped up in foul ground to end the inning.
Goolsby returned to the mound in the top of the third and continued his mastery over the Lovelady batting order. He fanned Lance Pierce and Blake Patrick to open the inning before Murray reached on an outfield error. Murray managed to get to second on the miscue and then stole third but Goolsby stranded him there as he came back to strike out Crawford and end the Lions’ threat.
The Sandies tacked on another run in the bottom of the third. Prater led off with a single to left and after Goolsby flew out, he swiped second. DeCluette followed in the order but couldn’t bring Prater home as he struck out. Vickers followed in the order and on a 2-0 pitch he lined a shot into left that drove in Prater from second to make the score 3-1.
Gilchrist went on to load the bases, but once again, he was able to limit the damage as he got Vaden to ground back to the mound for the final out of the third.
In the top of the fourth, Gilchrist got a little payback as he led off with a double. He stole third but, Goolsby got Mikes to swing at strike three for the first out of the inning. Shupak followed in the batting order and was hit by a pitch. He stole second to put runners at second and third with only one out. Goolsby then walked McFarland and hit T. Gilchrist with a pitch to push C. Gilchrist across the plate. After that, Goolsby regained his composure to fan Pierce and Patrick to end the top of the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth, Grapeland threatened to blow the game wide open. After Gilmore grounded out to first, Harris reached on an error and took second on the play. Prater followed with a single to right which drove in Harris and made the score 4-2.
At that point, Lovelady made a change on the mound as Crawford came into pitch. Goolsby followed with a fly ball out while DeCluette, who was up next, reached on an error which moved Prater to third.
Crawford struggled initially as he hit Vickers with a pitch to load the bases. He walked Lamb to push Prater across the dish and then walked Elliott to bring in DeCluette, making the score 6-2. Fortunately for the Lions, Crawford regrouped to strike out Vaden to end the inning.
Lovelady trimmed the Grapeland lead to 6-3 in the top of the fifth. Murray led off with a double and moved to third on a wild pitch. Goolsby came back to strike out Crawford but a dropped third strike on C. Gilchrist forced a throw to first for the second out while Murray scampered home. That was all the Lions could muster, however, as Mikes fanned to end the top of the fifth.
While Crawford struggled in the fourth, he was lights out in the fifth. He got Gilmore to swing at strike three, while Harris popped up to second on the first pitch he saw. Crawford then coaxed Prater to fly out to center to end the fifth.
Things got interesting in the sixth. Goolsby hit Shupak to lead off the inning, but on a 0-1 count, Shupak was thrown out trying to steal second. McFarland followed with a single to center and moved to second when T. Gilchrist walked.
Pierce was up next and lined a shot into right which plated McFarland. It also moved T. Gilchrist to third. A passed ball gave T. Gilchrist the opportunity to race home and cut the lead to 6-5. Goolsby struck out Patrick for the second out of the inning but after the K, Prater came on in relief of Goolsby.
Prater walked Murray and then yielded a single to Crawford which drove in Pierce from second and tied the score at six. That was all the Lions would get, however, as Prater struck out C. Gilchrist to end the top of the sixth.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Sandies came roaring back. Goolsby grounded out to open the inning but DeCluette followed with a single to left. Kacin Salmon came into run for DeCluette and moved to second when Vickers drew a walk. Lamb also drew a walk and that was it for Crawford on the mound.
Murray came on in relief but after throwing two balls, Mikes relieved Murray. Things didn’t get any better as Mikes wound up walking Elliott which pushed Salmon across the dish with the go-ahead run. A wild pitch allowed Vickers to cross the plate and make the score 8-6.
Mikes settled down after that and got Vaden on a called third strike while I Chimal grounded out to third to end the inning.
The Lions had one last chance, but Prater slammed the door on their bid for a comeback. He forced Mikes to pop up to third, coaxed Shupak to fly out to center and then got McFarland to line out to right to end the game and give the Sandies the 8-6 win.
On the game, Goolsby worked 5.2 innings and gave up six runs on five hits. He also fanned 15 and walked two. Prater picked up the win in relief as he worked 1.1 innings, giving up one hit with one strikeout and one walk.
At the plate, Prater was 2-4 with two runs scored and one RBI. Jax Vickers was 2-2 with two runs scored and one RBI.
Crawford was saddled with the loss after he worked two innings, giving up three runs on one hit. He walked four and struck out one.
At the plate for Lovelady, Murray was 2-3 with two runs scored while Crawford was 1-4 with two RBI.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
