The "Other Gabes" take on the game

[Gabe]

Carthage's title dream dashed by Bridge City

By GABRIEL D. BROOKS

Sunday, May 27, 2007

LUFKIN — Khris Tate's two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the seventh inning momentarily made Carthage fans believe the Bulldogs were poised for a Game 2 comeback in their Class 3A Region III baseball semifinal series at Morris Frank Park.

However Bridge City, which got a strong pitching performance from No. 2 starter Phillip Meeks, went to its ace for the final out.

With the tying run at the plate, Cardinal pitcher Jeff Stringer, who struck out 12 Bulldogs in Thursday's 6-2 win in Game 1, forced Carthage's Jonathon Baker to hit into a series-ending groundout to first base, sparking a Cardinal celebration and ending the season for the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association's No. 1-ranked squad, 4-2.

Carthage, which ran roughshod over District 20-3A en route to a 25-0 regular-season record, ends its season at 28-2 in coach Shawn Schumacher's first year at the helm.

Carthage beat No. 4 Liberty-Eylau twice in non-district along with 12-4A runner-up Nacogdoches and fourth-place Hallsville. The Bulldogs also beat Pine Tree in a warm-up game when the Pirates were ranked No. 3 in 4A, but they couldn't get past a Bridge City (27-6-1) team that wanted to avenge a 2005 state semifinal loss to eventual champion Carthage.

"Any time you win 28 ballgames — 28 in a row — that's hard to do," Schumacher said. "I'm not going to take anything away from Bridge City. They played well, they made plays. When they had runners in scoring position they got the job done."

Meeks pitched 6 2/3 innings, yielding two runs on 10 Carthage hits while striking out only three Bulldogs. But Meeks' intermediate-speed pitches and breaking balls perplexed Carthage just enough to keep the Bulldogs from getting solid contact consistently, and the Dawgs' own baserunning miscues cost them.

After Bridge City's four-run second inning — fueled by freshman Matt Hicks' three-run double — that proved to be enough to advance Bridge City to the Region III final. Carthage appeared to be on its way to manufacturing runs in the bottom of the second and third innings that would get it back in the game.

However, Derrick "Bubba" Loofboro's two-out single to right resulted in Matt Akin, who reached base on a single to center, being thrown out at the plate by Cardinal center fielder Johnny Dishon.

In the third, two of Carthage's three outs came on the bases. Leadoff hitter Austin Smith doubled to center on a 3-2 pitch, but was caught in a rundown between second and third base after one pitch to Tate, who flew out to center. Baker then doubled to right on a 1-1 pitch, but was thrown out trying for third.

"We made some baserunning errors. We can blame whoever we want to, but it seemed like any little weird thing that (could) happen happened," Schumacher said. "But that's baseball and that's why you still got to go out there and play the game."

After the fruitless second- and third-inning scoring attempts, the closest Carthage came to scoring before the seventh was in the bottom of the fifth. Loofboro singled to left with one out, and an out later Tate lifted a deep fly to left that seemed to have a chance to carry out and cut Bridge City's lead in half.

However, Bridge City's left fielder made the catch against the wall, keeping the Bulldogs off the scoreboard and Navarro-bound Tate from recording his 11th homer of the season.

Tate entered the game in relief of Baker with two outs in the top of the fifth and kept Bridge City from adding to its lead. Baker shouldered the loss, giving up four runs on five hits in 4 2/3 innings.

In the bottom of the seventh, Cody Whitaker — who entered the game at third as part of defensive changes once Tate moved from short to the mound — drew a leadoff walk, which was followed by a double down the first-base line by Taylor Harris to put two on with no outs. But after Loofboro worked the count full and fouled off a pitch, Meeks forced him into a popout and then struck out Austin Smith on a 2-2 pitch to put the Bulldogs down to their last out.

Tate then delivered with his two-run single, scoring Whitaker and Tyler Bradstreet, who ran for Harris. But Stringer, a left-hander, came in to face the lefty Baker and got the groundout to first to end the series.

Garrett Smith, who hit cleanup and led the Bulldogs in batting average, RBIs and stolen bases this season, led Carthage with three singles and a steal, finishing the series 5-for-6. Loofboro went 2-for-3 (4-for-6 in the series), and Baker and Harris each added a double. Austin Smith, Akin and Tate each singled.

Carthage loses 12 seniors off its 21-man roster, including players like Tate and Baker who were key parts of the Bulldogs' 2005 state title team as sophomores.

"I think that senior class is the example of what Carthage baseball is," Schumacher said.

The Carthage seniors include: Akin, Baker, Tommy Bozeman, Bradstreet, Jace Hamilton, Harris, Logan Joines, Loofboro, Charley Schelhouse, Garrett Smith, Tate and Whitaker.

Bridge City, which finished second in District 21-3A, faces 21-3A champion Jasper in the Region III final. Jasper eliminated 20-3A's Lufkin Hudson in the other Region III semifinal. Bridge City is aiming for its third straight trip to the state tournament.