Thorndale baseball went into the Easter weekend remaining undefeated in district play, shutting out visiting Granger, 10-0.
The Bulldogs ended the game after the fifth inning when they added six more runs to their 4-0 lead thanks to hits from Hunter Clark, Luke Merz, Logan Davis, Bryson Beran and Broedie Salas. The game ended after an outfielder for the Lions missed a Salas pop fly, leading to Clark and Davis scoring and concluding the game on a ‘run-rule’.
THS head coach Kelly Kuhl was pleased with how his team played overall.
“We only had seven hits,” Kuhl said. “When you get walked or get hit seven times, it’s hard to get in the batter’s box and really know whether the ball is going to come at you or if it’s going to be over the plate.”
“But when you look at the scoreboard and see that we’ve scored every inning but the fourth, you can’t complain.”
Davis got the win, allowing one hit on the night and striking out 10. Hunter Thigpen and Kaden Kovar also recorded hits for the Bulldogs in their ninth district game.
SEASON—As of Monday, the Bulldogs are ranked ninth in Class 2A by the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Assocation. THS has torched their district competition, outscoring opponents 126-5 in nine games.
“We’ve been hitting the ball like crazy,” Kuhl said. “I always hang my hat on defense and pitching, but our bats have been taking care of business.”
Kuhl also said that in the midst of their district slate that he’s gone out of way to challenge his squad. On April 8, they hosted Academy, a ranked team in Class 3A for much of this season. Although the Bulldogs lost 14-4, Kuhl saw many positives in their game with the Bees. They also took on Class 3A Lago Vista last Monday, who they lost to 9-8 after getting off to a slow start.
THRALL—The Bull dogs closed out their series with Granger after press time on Tuesday. If Thorndale wins against the Lions, this means that they have an outright district title since second place Holland is 8-3 and third place Thrall is 7-3.
Thorndale plays in their final two games of the season with the Tigers on Friday and Tuesday.
Coming off a trip to the 2021 state tourney, Thrall only has three returning starters from that team. Despite having many new faces, Kuhl feels Thrall will still be a tough team to face.
“I (only) saw them earlier this year during tournament play, so you never know,” he said. “But just by watching their scores, it looks like they’re getting better.
“They lost some kids and it seems like they’ve been learning to play together.”
First pitch for Friday’s game in Thrall is set for 7 p.m.
LADY DOGS—Bouncing back from their first district loss earlier in the week, the Lady Dogs took down Holland on the road, 16-2.
Emilee Baker led THS at the plate with a pair of three-run homers while junior Raeghan Carlson got her sixth home run of the season. Carlson, a University of North Carolina commit, went three-for-four at the plate with three runs batted in.
THS senior Kelsey Kovar also had a hot night at the plate, going three-for-four and bringing in two runs.
THIS WEEK—The Lady Dogs faced Granger in their final district game on Tuesday evening after press time.
More information about the post-season and warmup games prior to the playoffs will be in the next edition of the Reporter.
- Log in or Subscribe to post comments.