Steers fall at Brownwood in walk-off loss

Steers fall at Brownwood in walk-off loss News Staff Tue, 04/09/2024 - 2:02 pm

• (TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Junior Bruin Wright extends his arms as he follows through on a swing during the team’s game against Brownwood earlier last week. The Steers traveled to Brownwood last Friday, April 12 but took a close 6-5 loss.
• (TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Left fielder Luke McCain fields a ground ball that was hit to the outfield during Graham’s game against Brownwood earlier last week. The Steers traveled to Brownwood for another matchup Friday, April 5 and fell in a walk-off 6-5 loss to the Lions.
• (TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Graham head coach Allen McGee (jacket) consults with his infield during a difficult moment against Brownwood earlier last week. The Steers visited the Lions last Friday, April 5 but ended up with a 6-5 loss.
• (TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Graham’s Ty Thompson connects with a pitch and watches its trajectory during the team’s game against Brownwood earlier last week. The Steers fell in a walk-off loss 6-5 when they traveled to take on the Lions last Friday, April 5.
• (TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Graham catcher Tripp Mahaney sets himself up to receive a pitch during the team’s game against Brownwood at home earlier in the week. The Steers traveled Friday, April 5 to Brownwood where they ended up with a close 6-5 loss.

TC Gordon sports@grahamleader.com

Heading into their matchup at Brownwood last Friday, the Steers baseball team had a 1-1 split in two games with the Lions so far this season.

As the game progressed, it looked like Graham might be headed for a second win to take the season series before the Lions ultimately came back in the final inning and won on a walk-off, handing the Steers a 6-5 loss.

It’s common for teams facing each other for the third time to become familiar with the opposition’s pitchers and hitters. Both teams’ players were locked in all game as this battle came down to the final inning.

Graham trailed for most of the game as Brownwood built up an early lead and held onto it until the final inning. As the Steers entered their final at bats in the seventh inning, the score was 4-3 in the Lions’ favor.

But as has been the case most of the season, the Steers never quit and used small ball to work their way to the lead. Ty Thompson led off the inning with a single, then Ryder Taylor and Tate Loesch both reached on errors to load the bases with nobody out for Harison Brockway, who singled on a fly ball to center field to score Thompson and tie the game at 4-4.

A couple batters later, Colter Johnson knocked a sacrifice fly out to left field to score Taylor and give Graham their first lead of the game at 5-4. Having been down the entire game, the Steers were now the ones putting pressure on Brownwood’s hitters.

However, the Lions weren’t going to go down easily and they roared back in their half of the seventh inning. The leadoff batter hit a home run to left field to tie the game again at 5-5. Brownwood’s next batter roped a triple to right field to put the winning run 90 feet away with nobody out.

On a 1-0 count, Brownwood smacked a single to right field to score the run and walk off with the win over Graham 6-5.

Up until that final inning, the Steers had successfully dealt with adversity all game. Graham’s starting pitcher, Bruin Wright, struggled in the first inning as he allowed three earned runs on a big home run to give the home team a quick 3-0 advantage.

Mason Milton took over for Wright and pitched the bulk of the innings, in which he went 4 2/3 innings, gave up one unearned run and struck out four batters while keeping his team in the game.

Graham put up one run in the fourth inning thanks to a couple of Brownwood errors and then tacked on two more in the fifth with a string of singles and walks to pull things close at 4-3. Brockway took over on the mound and pitched a clean sixth inning before running into trouble in the seventh where the Lions took the game.

Taylor finished the game 2-for-2 with two runs scored and a walk while Loesch went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Brockway, Milton, Thompson and Wright all had a hit each with some RBIs and runs scored, as well.

• Sports

Breaking News Off