SOMERSET – The Champion baseball team picked up a narrow win over Brackenridge on Thursday and then blew out the Eagles in Game 2 the next day to close out their second-round playoff series and advance to the next round.
Champion edged the Eagles in the first game, 3-0, and then run ruled Brackenridge on Friday, 13-3, in five innings to improve to 27-9-1 overall.
The Chargers face district foe Smithson Valley in the third round in a best-of-three series. All games will be played at the NEISD Sports Park.
Game 1 is Thursday at 7 p.m., Game 2 is Friday at 7 p.m. and a third game, if needed, will take place Saturday at 1 p.m.
Game 1
Thursday’s game at Somerset was 0-0 through the first five innings, but the Chargers made their move in the sixth and scored all three of its runs.
Champion coach Ben Woodchick gave credit to Eagles pitcher Angel Ramirez for keeping the Chargers off the board through the first five innings. In the third frame Champion had a chance to take the lead and there was a play at the plate but the Charger runner was called out and it stayed 0-0 until the sixth.
“We had our backs to the wall a little more than they did through the first five innings,” Woodchick said. “That kid battled, he pitched a great game and kept them in it.”
In the sixth, Gage Goldberg started off the inning with a single and then Nic Cortez smashed a ground rule double that bounced over the left-field fence to put runners at second and third.
From there, Jordan Ballin hit a slow roller that brought in Goldberg’s courtesy runner Matthew Booth from third. Ballin was safe at first after the throw from the Brack first baseman went to the plate to try and get Booth, but it was late and the Chargers were up 1-0.
Evan Kuhl came up to bat and bunted home Cortez’s courtesy runner, Brock Browning from third and it was 2-0.
The Chargers weren’t done and with two outs in the inning, Ethan Harrison brought in Kuhl with a ground out and Champion had built a 3-0 lead.
“We started executing a little bit and that hit from Nic Cortez sparked us and we rolled from there,” Woodchick said. “You play to your strength but you can’t do any of it without base runners and we got guys on base that inning.”
Ramirez was pulled after giving up the first two hits in the inning to Goldberg and Cortez even though his pitch count was only at 56. The first two runs were charged to him and his replacement, Dany Ramirez, gave up 1 run.
Champion pitcher Rowdy Miller also left in the fifth but he left with a no decision since he didn’t have a lead nor was he trailing when he exited.
Aidan Smith entered in the sixth and was the pitcher of record when the Chargers scored their 3 runs.
Smith tossed two shutout innings and gave up 1 hit, 1 walk and fanned 3. Miller tossed 84 pitches in 5 frames and yielded 3 hits, 2 walks and struck out 8.
The Chargers finished with 6 hits in the game, which included doubles by Nic Cortez and Quinn Grable, while Evan Kuhl, Cam Logan, Sam Miller and Gage Goldberg all singled.
Brock Browning, Matthew Booth and Kuhl all scored once, while Jordan Ballin, Kuhl and Ethan Harrison all picked up RBIs.
Game 2
After the first game ended, Woodchick said the Chargers had to hit better in Game 2 and they responded with 13 base knocks and scored in 4 of 5 innings on their way to a 13-3 win.
Just like in Game 1, the Chargers had a fast start and plated 6 runs in the first inning thanks to 7 singles, 4 straight to open the game.
Brackenridge cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning with a walk, three consecutive singles and another walk to make it 6-2. The Eagles added another run on a fielder’s choice and it was 6-3.
Those would be Brack’s only runs of the game, while Champion kept its foot on the gas pedal and scored 2 more in the top of the second. Sam Miller smacked a double to bring in Cam Logan and then Miller scored on a ground out by Jared Wingo and the lead was 8-3.
An Evan Kuhl double in the third opened up the floodgates and helped the Chargers score 4 more runs. Champion finished the inning with 3 singles, the Kuhl double, a sac fly and a hit batter the lead ballooned to 12-3.
After not scoring in the fourth, the Chargers added another run in the fifth and made it a 10-run lead at 13-3 to put Brackenridge on the verge of getting run ruled.
The Eagles had to score in the bottom of the fifth but couldn’t and the game ended there, via the mercy rule.
Matthew Booth picked up the win after entering in the first inning to replace starter Jacob Schwope, who gave up 3 hits and 3 runs. Booth pitched the final 4.2 innings and threw 62 pitches, yielded 2 hits, no runs, 2 walks and struck out 4.
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