AREA CHAMPS
Pleasant Grove shuts down Brownsboro
SHREVEPORT, La.—Open the door and a good team will walk right through.
Pleasant Grove capitalized on its scoring opportunities Saturday while Brownsboro watched a great one disappear along with its playoff chances as the Hawks danced to an 8-0 win to wrap up a Class 4A area championship at Shehee Field at Centenary College.
If the Bears were left to fret over anything on the long bus ride home Saturday night, it was that they loaded the bases with none out in the top of the first against PG starter Cheyne Brown with an error and backto-back singles. And then, nothing. At all. It was 21 up and 21 down from that point as the senior threw a complete-game shutout to send Pleasant Grove (22-3) into the regional quarterfinals next week against the winner of Crandall-Spring Hill.
“We played great defense and got great pitching today,” PG coach Riley Fincher said. “It all started on the mound. He did a great job picking his pitches and keeping them off-balance.”
Brown’s fast ball was usually in the strike zone. His slider broke as it reached the plate and his curve either broke into the strike zone or away to leave right handers flailing at empty space. Four of his eight strikeouts were swinging,
Fincher and Brown agreed the rough start was a matter of nerves. Still, with the bases juiced in the first, he got a weak fly to shallow left from the clean-up hitter, got his first strikeout against the next man and ended the inning inducing a routine grounder to shortstop Joe Pearlman.
Brown never allowed another hit. He walked two hitters, but his defense quickly eliminated them. Jake Conner was gunned down trying to steal
by catcher Mark Ashby, and Landon Mason became part of a picture-perfect 6-4-3 double play in the seventh.
“After that first inning, Cheyne just locked in.” Fincher said. “That was one of his best pitching performances of the year.”
Joe Pearlman got the offense going with a one-out double in the third. Brownsboro opened the door when the shortstop fielded Hudson Hopkins grounder and threw past the first baseman. Pearlman scored and Hopkins sprinted around to third. He scored when Jacob Smith grounded out to short to put the Hawks up, 2-0, after three.
Jarod Bayless opened the fourth driving a low line drive that ricocheted off the right shin of Brownsboro pitcher Toby Davis, who wound up leaving the game four hitters later.
Mark Ashby laid down a bunt single to put runners at first and second. With VaShon Williams running for Bayless and Connor Lemmerhirt for Ashby, the runners advanced on a passed ball.
A.J. Snyder brought in Williams with a single. Pearlman followed with his second double to bring in Lemmerhirt and make it 4-0.
A four-run fifth was typical Hawk baseball. Bayless walked and Ashby followed with a single to left. Again Lemmerhirt came in to run. Snyder singled in Bayless.
Snyder saw no one was covering second, so he headed there. When the throw went to second, Fincher sent Lemmerhirt home to make it 6-0.
“If the defense makes a great throw, we’re out, but there are professional players who can’t make that throw,” Fincher said. “We’re going to be aggressive running.”
Pearlman delivered his third straight hit, an RBI single. Hopkins, who went three for three, also had an RBI single to close out the scoring.
Game notes: In three playoff games, PG has allowed one run, a staff ERA of 0.333. In four pinch-running assignments, Conner Lemmerhirt has stolen three bases and scored three times. The Hawks were charged an error on a slow roller up the third-base line that Blake Roberts was unable to field and throw cleanly. It was the only PG error of the playoffs. Pleasant Grove has two double plays in three playoff games.