Steers shutout in final home game against Rams

Steers shutout in final home game against Rams News Staff Fri, 04/19/2024 - 9:18 am

• (TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Senior Tate Loesch follows through on his swing and tries to get on base to spark a rally during Graham’s district matchup with Mineral Wells. This Tuesday, April 16 the Steers ended up with a 4-0 loss to the Rams.
• (TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Graham catcher Mason Milton runs down a baserunner and tries to get them out in a pickle during the Steers’ 4-0 loss to Mineral Wells this past Tuesday, April 16.
• (TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Graham first baseman Colter Johnson fields a ground ball and throws home to try to get an out during the team’s game against Mineral Wells this past Tuesday, April 16. The Steers took a 4-0 loss to the Rams.

TC Gordon sports@grahamleader.com

It was a difficult way to end the final home game of the regular season as the Graham Steers were shutout by the Mineral Wells Rams 4-0 this past Tuesday, April 16.

As the season winds down, the Steers are in a fight for a playoff spot and Tuesday’s game against the Rams was a big one for both teams. Graham has been on a bit of a downward slide lately, as they’ve lost their last four games heading into the season finale.

The Steers have struggled to put together a complete game on both sides of the ball lately. Their worst loss of the last four games was a 10-1 loss at Glen Rose, but the other three games have all been within four runs. They haven’t been able to overcome some of the struggles, primarily on the offensive end and that continued against Mineral Wells.

Graham put together solid at bats against Mineral Wells’s starting pitcher and they made a lot of hard contact all game. The difference in this matchup was that the Rams’ hits found the gaps while most of the Steers’ hits found the opponents’ gloves.

“We had some good, solid contact… and that’s baseball; that’s what sucks about baseball sometimes,” head coach Allen McGee said.

The Steers had a chance to score early in the first inning when they loaded the bases with two outs. But a groundout to the pitcher ended the threat and kept things scoreless after one inning.

Mineral Wells ended up breaking through in the second inning as Graham’s starting pitcher Ryder Taylor struggled with his control. He walked two batters and one run came home on a wild pitch to give the Rams an early 1-0 lead.

Taylor continued to battle through the next few innings and didn’t run into trouble again until the fourth. A single, a walk and a triple to the right-center field gap turned into two more Rams runs and the fourth run came home on a fielding error to push it to 4-0.

The rest of the game Taylor kept his team in it, as he only allowed one more hit and didn’t walk anyone in the final three innings. The junior’s final line was seven innings pitched, six hits, four runs (three earned), four walks and a strikeout.

“We’ve got to put together a complete game competing and they know that. Ryder threw his tail off,” McGee said.

Meanwhile, Graham’s hitters were getting their bats on the ball a lot. Only three Steers struck out the entire game, but the team also only finished with three hits. There was a lot of hard contact, but the balls seemed to end up right where the Rams were playing.

After having the bases loaded in the first inning, only two Steers advanced to second base or further the rest of the game. Bruin Wright finished the game 2-for-3 with one of those a hard double. Harison Brockway had the team’s other hit in the final inning, but it was erased by a double play.

“We learned how to compete, now you’ve got to learn how to compete at all times,” McGee said. “We show glimpses of doing it and doing it for five, six innings. We’ve got to do it for seven.”

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