MUMFORD—Things started off a little rocky for the Thorndale Bulldogs in their area round playoff series with Burton this past week.
BHS took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first thanks to back-to-back triples from Chet Fritsch and Jackson Kalkhake. THS was also putting the ball in play early on, but couldn’t seem to get any runners on base. All but one of their outs in the first three innings was either a ground out or a fielder’s choice.
However, fortunes changed for the ‘Dawgs in the top of the fourth. It all started with a single from Luke Merz. He was brought in by a Logan Davis triple to tie the game at one. Before the fourth was over, THS led 3-1 after capitalizing on two errors and a Coy Stutts single.
“It was a huge inning for us to take the lead and gain the momentum,” THS coach Kelly Kuhl said. “We were putting the ball in play during the first three innings but kept rolling it over.”
Rolling it over refers to when a batter’s top hand slides down over part of the bottom hand while hitting a baseball. This causes top spinning grounders and generally weaker contact.
“In the fourth, we started to square some balls up and turned the tide,” Kuhl also said.
For the remainder of the game, Davis didn’t allow another hit from the mound and THS scored twice more with one run in the sixth as well as the seventh to win the series opener, 5-1.
Hunter Thigpen led THS with three hits while Davis, Stutts and Merz each had one hit. Davis also struck out nine batters in his second outing this post-season.
GAME TWO—T h e Bulldogs hit their stride in game two, scoring in every inning to beat the Panthers, 10-0.
Merz led the ‘Dawgs with three hits while Stutts and Kaden Kovar each had two. Davis and Bryson Beran each had hits as well.
Beran also led from the mound, allowing two hits and striking out six in five full innings.
“We had two outstanding pitching performances and played pretty good defense behind them,” Kuhl said. “We did a good job on off ense, putting the ball in play and also making it so Burton had to make plays.”
SHINER—Going into the Regional Quarterfinals, Thorndale finds themselves up against a Shiner team that made it to the state semi-finals last season. The Comanches only have four returning starters from that team but have shown comparisons to last year’s group.
SHS has run-ruled their opponents in 12 of their last 16 games and runruled Ganado both times, who Thorndale beat 10-0, 7-6 in their first round of the playoffs.
“Shiner is a great ball club and well-coached,” Kuhl said. “They put a good group on the field year in and year out.”
“We are going to have to continue doing the little things well to win the series,” he added.
For more information on the series, look on page 1B.
Thorndale vs. Shiner Regional Quarterfinals at La Grange High School
Game 1: 7 p.m., Thursday
Game 2: 7 p.m., Friday
Game 3: 2 p.m., Saturday
Tickets: Sold online via La Grange Athletics website, $5 per students/adults.
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