Grapeland Pitchers Combine on One-Hitter in 14-2 Win

By Will Johnson

Messenger Reporter

GRAPELAND – The Grapeland Sandies are playing some solid baseball this year and after Monday night’s game against the Oakwood Panthers, they sit one game back of the Centerville Tigers in District 21-2A.

The contest was moved to Monday instead of the regular Tuesday schedule because of the 2022 Houston County Fair and Youth Livestock Show. The change of dates didn’t seem to bother the Sandies one iota as both the pitching and hitting came through for Grapeland in the 14-2 win over Oakwood.

Peyton Prater got the start for the Sandies and struck out the first two batters he faced before coaxing Kolby Walley to ground out to second for the third out of the inning.

When the Sandies came in to bat, they looked like they might also go quietly in their half of the first. Ryder Perry was on the mound for Oakwood and forced lead-off hitter Slade Harris to ground out. He then caught Peyton Prater swinging at a pitch out of the strike zone for out number two.

Things went south for the Panthers after that. Cole Goolsby walked and moved to second on an error at first. He then stole third while Jason DeCluette drew a walk. Jax Vickers hit a shallow fly that was mishandled behind second base for an error which allowed Goolsby to trot home with the game’s first run.

On the play, DeCluette motored over to third and when Johnny Lamb drew a walk, Grapeland had the bases loaded. Jace Elliott also drew a walk which pushed DeCluette across the plate and made the score 2-0.

Kristian Sparks was up next and he laced a single into center to drive in Vickers and Lamb while Elliott moved to third. Isaiah Chimal followed with a grounder up the middle to plate Elliott which gave Grapeland a 5-0 lead.

Wally had come on in relief of Perry and finally managed to get the Panthers out of the inning, before any more damage could be done.  

Prater went back to work in the second inning and got Mike Brauer to ground back to the mound for the first out. After an error in the outfield allowed Johnny Russell to reach second base, Prater got Perry to chase strike three and then caught CaDarius Whitt looking to retire the side.

The Sandies plated six more in the second to go up 11-0. Goolsby led off with a walk and then stole second. DeCluette struck out but Vickers followed with a pop-up that was misplayed, allowing Goolsby to cross the plate and make it 6-0.

Lamb was up next and drew a walk. Elliott followed with a shot to third that was booted which allowed Vickers to trot home while Lamb moved to third. Elliott also took second on the play. Sparks followed with a walk.

A wild pitch brought Lamb home and advanced the other two base runners. An error in the infield on the same play allowed Elliott to scamper across the plate and push the Sandies lead out to 9-0.

Chimal drew a walk but Harris fanned for the second out of the inning. Prater came up to bat again and this time he delivered a two-out single to drive in Sparks and move Chimal to second. Goolsby was next up and drew his second walk of the inning to load the bases.

A wild pitch allowed Chimal to touch home and make the score 11-0 and moved Prater to third while Goolsby moved to second. DeCluette followed in the order and was hit by a pitch.

That was all the Sandies would get in the second as Vickers fanned to end the inning and bring the Panthers in from the field.

Prater was back on the mound to start the third and he ran into some trouble. He hit the lead-off batter, Bennett Reed, but came back to strike out Kevin Alatorre. A balk by Prater moved Reed to second and Walley followed with a single.

Reed moved to third and came around to score on an infield error to make the score 11-1. That was as close as the Panthers would get, however, as Prater struck out the next batter he faced and then caught an Oakwood player in a run-down to bring the top of the third to a close.

The Sandies would go on to score three more runs in the bottom of the fourth while the Panthers would add a run in the top of the fifth. It was too little, too late though as the game was called because of the 10-run rule after five innings of play.

Prater picked up the win with three innings of work. He gave up one run on one hit and struck out six. Vickers worked the last two innings and gave up one run. He also struck out three and walked three.

At the plate, the Sandies were led by Goolsby who was 1-1 with three runs scored, two RBI and three walks.  

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

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