Steers battle, offense struggles in loss to Brownwood

Steers battle, offense struggles in loss to Brownwood News Staff Fri, 03/15/2024 - 11:46 am

• (TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Graham junior Ty Thompson swings hard at an oncoming pitch looking to make contact and put the ball in play during the Steers’ 3-0 loss Wednesday, March 13 against Brownwood.
• (TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Graham junior Ryder Taylor fires a warmup pitch home before an inning in the Steers’ 3-0 loss to Brownwood. Taylor threw 3 2/3 no-hit innings before allowing a hit and kept his team in the game all night.
• (TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Graham sophomore Tripp Mahaney reaches up to catch a high pitch with the umpire behind him during the team’s district game Wednesday, March 13 against Brownwood. The Steers battled but took a 3-0 loss.

TC Gordon sports@grahamleader.com

Graham’s offense still has some things to figure out but the team as a whole put up a fight against Brownwood before ultimately taking a 3-0 loss Wednesday, March 13.

In what started out as a real pitcher’s duel for the first few innings, the visiting Lions strung together just the right amount of hits and made fewer mistakes than the Steers to pull out the win.

The home team struggled to get runners on the basepaths and when they did, they dealt with a few mental errors which led to outs and the ending of potential scoring innings. Graham pitcher Ryder Taylor did his best to keep his team in the game but the offense couldn’t back him as they took the loss.

“A great pitcher’s duel; Ryder was throwing lights out, (Brownwood’s) kid was throwing lights out,” head coach Allen McGee said. “We’ve got to find a way to get the ball in play a lot more than what we've shown the last two district games… we’ve got to figure out ways to put pressure on the defense.”

For the first three innings of this game, each team’s starting pitcher had a no-hitter going. Both teams had gotten guys on base with walks but nobody recorded a hit the first time through each lineup.

It wasn’t until the fourth inning that Brownwood broke through first on a two-out double to left field. Taylor allowed a walk to the next batter but got out of the inning without any damage by striking out the next hitter to end the threat.

In their half of the fourth inning, the Steers had the best chance to score first. Sophomore catcher Tripp Mahaney doubled to center field with one out for Graham’s first hit of the game. He then moved over to third after Brownwood’s pitcher was called for a balk, and junior Bruin Wright walked to put runners on first and third with one out.

But after Taylor struck out for the second out of the inning, Wright was caught stealing second on what looked to be a double steal for the third out.

Brownwood’s momentum had been building and it led to the first runs of the game for either side in the fifth inning.
The Lions had two singles with a sacrifice bunt sandwiched between them, and with two outs, another single scored two runs to put them up 2-0.

Graham’s offense still couldn’t get anything going while Taylor kept his composure on the mound and didn’t allow anything serious over his next two innings of work. The teams headed to the seventh and final inning with Brownwood still holding onto the 2-0 lead.

Wright came on in relief of Taylor and gave up a walk to the first batter which would turn into an insurance run for Brownwood. A sacrifice bunt, another walk and a fielder’s choice led to the Lions’ third run of the game.

Coming up for their final plate appearances, the Steers only managed a single from junior Harison Brockway before the Lions closed the door and claimed the victory.

Offense has been a bit of a struggle for the Steers in their first two district games of the season and it’s something McGee expects to get better with time and repetitions.

“We’ve just got to get back into believing in our philosophy and taking good approaches and not expanding our zone early in the count,” McGee said. “... It's high school baseball, we’ve got to make them throw it over the plate and not help out the pitcher.”

The Steers will continue with their first go-around through district play with a home game Tuesday, March 19 against Mineral Wells with first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m.

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