Cougars romp following 7-run 1st inning

CROSBY — Crosby was dialed in from the first pitch of Game 1 against Brenham in the Class 5A Region III semifinals.

It ended the game early when two pitches got away from the Cubs.

Daniel Balderrama’s leadoff single ignited a seven-run first inning, and the Cougars walked off with a 14-4 win on back-to-back wild pitches in the fifth to run-rule Brenham on Thursday night.

“That leadoff single was big, trickling down to Bryon (McCoy’s) double, and scoring first was real big for us, too,” Balderrama said.

“We were able to get on them early and pick up our tempo.”

Game 2 is set for 6:30 p.m. Friday in Brenham, with Game 3 to follow 30 minutes later, if necessary.

The Cougars (29-4-1) sent 11 men to the plate and built a 7-0 advantage in the first on McCoy’s run-scoring double, a bases-loaded walk by Triston Scherer, an RBI single by Dylan Barnaba, Jordan Kato’s run-scoring single and a two-run single by Balderrama in his second at-bat.

Brenham starter Dane Acker recorded only two outs before exiting.

The Cougars scored one more in the second, two in the third, one in the fourth and three in the fifth to end it.

“We definitely didn’t envision a run rule,” Balderrama said.

“We came out here expecting to hit the ball, make the routine plays and play the game we can, and we did that (Thursday), and even exceeded expectations.”

Scherer’s run-scoring double made it 12-4 in the fifth.

Then, Brenham made its fourth pitching change, bringing in Seth Diggs, whose first two offerings sailed past catcher Pierce Weiss, allowing Jacob Bell and then Scherer to score the final runs.

Scherer hesitated before outsprinting Diggs to home plate for the win.

“We thought it hit (Barnaba), so I’m telling him to go down to first, and he says it didn’t hit me, and then (Scherer) took off, because the ball was still back at the backstop and nobody was covering,” Crosby coach Chris Wiggins said.

Daniel Nelson (9-1) picked up the win for the Cougars.

He was effectively wild, allowing four runs on seven hits with seven walks, one hit-by-pitch and five strikeouts.

He was so secure after that seven-run first, he went the distance on 116 pitches.

“Daniel got in there and competed,” Wiggins said.

“He was around the zone all night long, effectively, which helped us stay in there and put up the smaller numbers on their side.”

Balderrama and Bell reached base in all four of their plate appearances.

Balderrama went 3-for3 with two RBIs and two runs, and Bell was 1-for-1 with two RBIs, two walks and three runs.

The Cougars outhit the Cubs 10-7.

“I was very happy with our kids coming out aggressive at the plate, jumping on strikes and staying away from a lot of breaking pitches out of the zone,” Wiggins said.

Darvis Watson led Brenham, going 2-for-3 with two doubles and a walk. The Cubs stranded nine baserunners.

Now the series shifts to Brenham, where the Cubs look to return the favor.

“We’ve got to go in there, turn our ears off and play our game like we did (Thursday),” Balderrama said.