Baseball/softball recap: Keller run rules Eaton; Burleson, Richland pick up big road wins
BASEBALL
Keller 13, Haslet Eaton 3
In a showdown of two of the top three teams in the Fort Worth-area rankings, the No. 1 Indians scored eight runs in the bottom of the first inning to take down the No. 3 Eagles in five innings Tuesday night in District 4-6A.
Keller (16-4) gave up three runs in the top half of the first inning as Eaton (17-4) got RBI singles from Laithe Shelley and Matthew Holr.
But the Indians would tie the game before recording an out. A Michael Dattalo single put Keller on the board and the Indians cut it to 3-2 on an Eaton error. Dattalo scored on a passed ball. The Eagles had trouble getting outs as Keller scored with the bases loaded on a hit by pitch and RBI walk to grab a 5-3 lead.
Keller brought up 13 batters and Dattalo extended the lead to 8-3 on a two-run single to right field.
Aidan Connors and Braden Davis singled in runs to increase the lead to 12-3 in the third. Dattalo drove in three runs and Davis and Griffin Barton each recorded two RBIs.
After the rough opening frame, Davis settled down from the mound and finished with eight strikeouts in four innings. He allowed five hits and two earned runs. Ryan Smith came on in the fifth and struck out two batters.
South Grand Prairie 2, Arlington Martin 1
Bryce Chambers out-dueled Max Grubbs and finished with seven strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings as SGP hung on to beat the Martin in District 8-6A. SGP improved to 15-3 overall and 3-0 in district. Martin falls to 2-1 and 9-6-2.
Martin grabbed the game’s first lead with a run in the second. Cade Weihrich’s sacrifice scored Zach Hudspeth from third. But SGP took the lead for good in the third on a passed ball and Nick Chavez RBI single to left that scored Ri’shon Pearl.
Grubbs allowed one hit with four strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. Luke Spencer came on in relief and didn’t allow a hit in 1 1/3 innings.
Mansfield Summit 2, Everman 1
Brandon Pierre scored in the top of the eighth and the Jaguars picked up the one-run victory over the Bulldogs in District 8-5A. John Hunt took a 1-0 pitch and grounded out to second, but allowed Pierre, who led off the inning with a double to left, to score.
Kevin Chapman shut down Everman in order to seal the win. Both teams scored in the fourth, first with Summit on an Everman error that brought home Jonathan Davis. The Bulldogs tied it when Christian Mauricio got a two-out double to left, advanced to third on a Andrews Leos’ single and scored on a Summit error at third.
Chapman went all eight for Summit and allowed six hits with eight strikeouts. Kris Ortiz and Ignacio Soto combined for four strikeouts and five hits allowed for Everman.
SOFTBALL
Weatherford 5, Euless Trinity 1
The Fort Worth-area’s top-ranked Kangaroos took down a stingy Trojans team that was looking for the upset victory in District 3-6A action.
Weatherford, which improves to 16-0-1 overall, scored a run in the first, third and fourth innings to lead Trinity 3-0. The Trojans scored their only run in the top of the fifth.
Bella Garcia doubled and homered for the Roos, who totaled nine hits.
Lauren Belles threw a complete game for Weatherford and allowed only three hits.
Burleson 6, Burl. Centennial 2
The No. 9 Elks scored the game’s first six runs to beat their rivals, No. 4 Centennial on the road in District 8-5A. Burleson (12-5-1) will host Centennial (13-5) on Friday.
Sam Houston State bound pitcher Brailey Wasik allowed two hits, one earned run and struck out nine to pick up the complete game victory.
The Elks scored four times in the top of the first inning. After back-to-back walks with one out, Wasik hit a hard grounder to first and reached on an error that scored two runs. Bri Trevino and Beau Slade picked up back-to-back RBI walks. Another RBI walk from Emily Jacobs made it 5-0 in the fourth. Kacie Graves singled in Bentleigh Inocencio in the fifth.
Jalynn Vasquez broke up Wasik’s perfect game bid with a lead-off homer in the sixth.
Richland 6, Colleyville Heritage 2
Jacey Lees struck out seven batters in seven innings and Abby DeSanto and Landri McKittrick both homered as the Royals upset the No. 6 Panthers in District 6-5A.
DeSanto singled in Reese Davis to give the Royals (11-5) a 1-0 lead in the first.
DeSanto scored a batter later on a CHHS error. The Panthers (14-6-2) cut the lead in half in the bottom of the first with a Jalie Neff single to center.
But DeSanto smashed a two-run homer in the third. McKittrick added a solo shot in the fifth to make it 5-1.
