Fastball - Tuesday baseball: Aledo eliminates Azle, more, plus area scores

Welcome to the high school baseball edition of the Fastball, a Star-Telegram series highlighting Fort Worth-area teams. See coverage and results.

Azle can’t handle Aledo, given playoff exit

Azle needed a sweep of District 5-5A leader Aledo in order to create, a likely, 3-way tie for third place and force a playoff for the final 2 playoff spots. But the Hornets came up just short in a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to the Bearcats on Tuesday at Aledo High School.

Aledo (27-3 overall, 11-0 district) scored 3 times in the bottom of the sixth inning to ruin an excellent pitching performance by Azle’s Martin Balderas, who took a no-hitter into the inning. The Bearcats got consecutive 1-out singles from Luke Gladchuk, Dylan Duran, Will Cayce (RBI) and Reid Huffman (RBI) to chase Balderas.

Huffman scored later in the sixth for Aledo with 2 outs on an error on a ground ball by Wilson Sehnem to take a 3-2 lead. Azle got a single from Wyatt Hicks and a walk to Colton Fox to start the seventh inning, but Teryn Byrne put out the fire for Aledo with a pair of strikeouts and a fly out to center.

Azle (16-12-1, 4-7) scored twice in the fourth on an RBI single by Tyler Couch and a sacrifice fly by Hicks.

Mansfield punches ticket, eliminates Weatherford

Mansfield pulled away with 4 runs in the top of the seventh inning to clinch a playoff berth and eliminate Weatherford from contention, 7-2, in a District 3-6A game on Tuesday night at Weatherford High School.

Mansfield (14-13-1 overall, 8-3 district) pulled into a 3-way tie for first place in district with Fort Worth Boswell and Mansfield Lake Ridge.

Meanwhile, Weatherford (19-12, 6-5) was eliminated from the postseason, falling behind Boswell (8-3), Lake Ridge (8-3) and Mansfield Legacy (8-4) with one game left.

Mansfield scored all 4 runs in the seventh with 2 outs, starting with 3 straight singles by Chase Wurtz, Nick Ruiz and Karson Beck. Travis Sample cleared the bases with a double to center and two batters later, Sample came in to score on a single from Antonio Gil that pushed the lead to 7-2.

Brayden Laningham came on in relief for the Tigers and scattered 3 hits, allowing no runs in 4 2/3 innings with 5 strikeouts.

Boswell downs Lake Ridge, ties for 1st in 3-6A

Starting pitcher Landon Granger allowed 1 run on 6 hits across 5 innings to help lead Fort Worth Boswell into a tie for the District 3-6A lead following a 4-2 win over Mansfield Lake Ridge on Tuesday night at Lake Ridge High School.

Boswell (20-8-3 overall, 8-3 district) and Lake Ridge (19-9-2, 8-3) are tied for first place in district with Mansfield (8-3) with one game left in the regular season. Boswell and Lake Ridge play again on Friday night while Mansfield faces Weatherford.

Casey Dalton doubled in 2 runs that gave Boswell a 2-1 lead in the top of the fourth inning. The Pioneers added 2 more runs in the fifth when Braylin Caston laced an RBI double to center and then scored on a double steal that pushed the lead to 4-1.

Boswell relief pitcher Xander Thacker struck out all 7 batters he faced.

Springtown takes edge in 7-4A race, downs Decatur

Springtown got the inside track on the District 7-4A championship after beating Decatur 4-2 in 8 innings on Monday night at Decatur High School.

Both teams came into the game tied for first place in the district standings with identical 10-0 records.

Isaac Gonzalez and Ricky Shelton hit back-to-back, 1-out singles in the top of the eighth inning for Springtown (19-5-2 overall, 11-0 district) and Gonzalez scored the go-ahead run after Cash Smith hit a hard grounder to first base. Lincoln Smith added an RBI double to score Shelton from second that extended the Porcupines’ lead to 4-2.

Decatur (18-7-1, 10-1) threatened in the bottom of the eighth with runners at first and second with 2 outs, but Springtown relief pitcher Omar Hernandez punched out a batter for his third strikeout. The Eagles forced extra innings after Xavier Pacheco hit a 1-out RBI single to center in the bottom of the seventh.

Springtown starting pitcher Nate McDaniel allowed just 1 hit and struck out 8 batters before being pulled with 1 out in the seventh inning.

MONDAY’S SCORES

Springtown 4, Decatur 2

FW Diamond Hill-Jarvis 12, FW Eastern Hills 0 (5)

TUESDAY’S SCORES

FW Boswell 4, Mansfield Lake Ridge 2

Crowley 4, North Crowley 3

Mansfield 7, Weatherford 2

Keller 10, Haslet Eaton 1

Justin Northwest 4, Keller Timber Creek 0

Euless Trinity 4, Hurst L.D. Bell 0

Keller Central 2, Trophy Club Byron Nelson 1

South Grand Prairie 12, Arlington Bowie 2 (6)

Haltom 6, Arlington Sam Houston 1

Arlington Lamar 9, Grand Prairie 0

Aledo 3, Azle 2

Saginaw 7, Keller Fossil Ridge 5

Granbury 2, FW Chisholm Trail 1

FW Brewer 11, River Oaks Castleberry 1 (6)

Birdville 6, Argyle 0

Denton Ryan 15, Denton 1 (5)

Colleyville Heritage 4, Richland 2

Cleburne 20, Arlington Seguin 0 (5)

Burleson Centennial 14, Mansfield Timberview 0 (5)

Everman 8, Mansfield Summit 1

Glen Rose 12, Graham 4

Brock 7, Stephenville 1

Mineral Wells 10, Brownwood 0 (6)

Bridgeport 21, Burkburnett 9 (6)

FW Eagle Mountain 10, Lake Worth 0 (6)

Waxahachie Life 6, Venus 3

Godley 27, Hillsboro 0 (5)

Kennedale 10, Ferris 0 (6)

Tolar 14, Breckenridge 1

Boyd 10, Pilot Point 0 (5)

Bells 3, Callisburg 1