UNSCATHED
Pleasant Grove holds off Liberty-Eylau, 5-2
In a battle of the District 14-4A unbeatens, it was fourth-ranked Pleasant Grove that remained unscathed.
The Hawks built an early 5-0 lead and then held off Liberty-Eylau to protect a 5-2 victory Friday night at Leopard Field in H.E. Markham Park.
“As much history and baseball tradition there is in this town, this is a great game for these teams to come in the way we did,” Pleasant Grove coach Riley Fincher said. “It was a great atmosphere here for Texarkana; the stands were packed, and people standing along the fences.
“When you have kids who know each other, grew up playing against each other, and now are on two quality teams, it’s good for our town, and it’s good for both teams to get that competition early in district.”
Senior Caleb Bolden went the distance for PG, needing 99 pitches in seven innings of work. He scattered eight hits, struck out eight, walked none, hit one and allowed two runs—both unearned.
L-E senior southpaw Rory Baugus absorbed the loss, lasting 2 2-3 innings before giving way to Bryan Moore on the mound. Baugus gave up eight hits and five runs—two earned.
Moore pitched 4 1-3 innings of 2-hit relief, keeping any more damage from being done.
“I’m proud of the effort; it’s been there all year, so it’s what we expect every time we go out,” said Leopard coach Zach Fowler, whose team had a 6-game win streak snapped. “Tonight was a different type of crowd that saw it; I just wished we would’ve come out on top.”
Cade Thompson, who was 3 for 3 for the Hawks, started the first with a single to left and stole second. He moved up on Bolden’s hit, and Thompson scored on Carson Cox’s sacrifice fly. Keaton Russo also had a single in the first, but Baugus was able to work out of the jam to strand two on.
The Leopards also stranded a pair of Hawks in the second, but Pleasant Grove pushed across four in the third.
A walk preceded an error on a fielder's choice, and a bunt single loaded the bases for Connor Ouellette's sac fly. Will Hlavinka added an RBI single, and Nathan Brinkley's bunt single loaded the bases again.
“Any time Caleb gets up there, with all of our pitchers, they've given us a great chance to stay in games and compete,” Fincher said. “Caleb worked in and out of jams, and I thought he showed a lot of his senior composure. He stays the course, has confidence in all his pitches and confidence in the guys behind him.”
Thompson came through with a 2-out single past the bag at first to drive in a pair of runs, and Moore got the next batter out to end the rally.
A walk and 2-out hit batsman were sandwiched around Darian Walker's line-drive single for the Leopards in the fifth inning to load the bags. An error allowed a pair of runs to score.
Liberty-Eylau had three hits in the sixth, two before a pair of strikeouts, but center fielder Cox threw out a runner attempting to score with a perfect throw home. Cox made a diving catch in shallow center to rob L-E of a hit and end the game.
“It was a good baseball game,” Fowler said. “They just made more plays than we did is what it comes down to. Bryan (Moore) gave us a lot of quality pitches; he kept us in the ballgame.”
Pleasant Grove 104 000 0 — 5 10 1 Liberty-Eylau 000 020 0 — 2 8 1 Caleb Bolden and Keaton Russo. Rory Baugus, Bryan Moore (3) and Triston Brooks. WP-Bolden. LP-Baugus.