Matt DeWalt
Weatherford Kangaroos pitcher Colton Davis worked four complete innings without allowing a hit to the North Crowley Panthers, but that streak came to an end in the top of the fifth.
With one on and two out, North Crowley’s Larry Dobbins singled to ignite a seven-run rally that resulted in the Panthers getting a 10-3 win over the Roos at Raymond E. Curtis Field Saturday afternoon.
“It came down to that one inning,” said Weatherford head coach Terry Massey. “We played really good defense and the only error we had the whole game, happened to come in that one big inning.
“Then, we had a couple almost plays. That one little dribbler back to the pitcher. You know, if he doesn’t touch that ball, it might go to the shortstop and we might get an out, but that’s reaction. You’ve got to go after that ball. Then, Danny [Gonzales], that one ball that was hit, that fading line drive, he almost made a great play.
“There were about three different plays where if we would have made them, you stop the bleeding,” Massey said. “Two of the plays would have been very good plays to make.”
With Weatherford leading 3-0, Davis allowed a leadoff single to Colby Tomasi in the top of the fifth, but struck out the next two batters. Dobbins stepped to the plate and singled to move Tomasi to second and keep the inning alive. The next two batters walked and singled to give North Crowley its first run of the game.
Davis continued to look for the third and final out of the inning, but the Panthers added three more runs to their lead before he was replaced on the mound by Colton Rhodes.
Rhodes took the mound with North Crowley leading 4-3 with two runners on base, but with one pitch to Jamieson Williamson, the Panthers took a 7-3 lead on the strength of a three-run home run to left-center field.
Rhodes recorded a strikeout against the next batter to bring the inning to an end.
With renewed enthusiasm, the Panthers took the field in the bottom half of the inning and looked to keep the Roos off the board.
North Crowley pitcher Taylor Mitchell had two runners reach base in the inning after two errors, but was able to work out of the jam with two flyballs and a fielder’s choice, which resulted in Taylor Cundiff being thrown out at second base.
Weatherford struggled to mount any offensive charge in the sixth and North Crowley added three runs to its total in the top of the seventh to take a seven-run lead.
The Roos started a two-out rally in the seventh and loaded the bases after Garrett Campfield, who hit a two-run home run in the first inning, Travis McClain and Jose Lara each reached on singles. The scoring threat and the game came to an end when Stefan Simpson followed Lara with a flyball to right-center field that was hauled in on the run by the Panthers’ center fielder.
“I think we could have done better at the plate,” Massey said. “Don’t get me wrong, we started out with a bang with the home run, but I think we’ve got more in us than what we showed.
“There at the end, that’s one thing about this team, they are going to compete from the get-go to the end.
“If we continue to get the defense we got today and the pitching, we’re going to be OK,” Massey said. “We just had that one huge inning and we just couldn’t recover.”
Massey said his team is still in a good position to make a run at the playoffs and he expects them to work even harder to achieve that goal.
“These kids are pretty resilient,” Massey said. “We’re going to come out here [today], just have a normal practice and get after it.
“We’re in the thick of things. I really think it’s going to come down to the last game or two to see who is going to decide those top four playoff spots.
“Paschal, of course, has put them self in great position and so has North Crowley,” Massey said. “There are about four or five of us that are all right there. We just have to come out, play on Tuesday night and put it behind us and keep going.”
Weatherford plays at Granbury at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
North Crowley 10, Weatherford 3
NCHS 000 070 3 — 10 9 4
WHS 200 100 0 — 3 8 1
Mitchell and Plock; C. Davis, Rhodes (5), Reynolds (7) and Campfield. W — Mitchell. L — C. Davis. HR — (NCHS) Williamson; (WHS) Campfield. 2b — (NCHS) Schneider, Williamson, Tomasi; (WHS) Cundiff. SB — (NCHS) none; (WHS) Simpson, J. Davis. CS — (NCHS) Tomasi; (WHS) none.
