KFDM COOP Posted April 17, 2008 Report Posted April 17, 2008 Nederland, PN-G seeking revenge By Cody Pastorella The Port Arthur News District 22-4A's top four baseball squads face off tonight. Headlining the two games will be playoff hopefuls Little Cypress-Mauriceville and Nederland who have a 7 p.m. start in Mauriceville. Also at 7 p.m., the Port Neches-Groves Indians will be looking for revenge against the Vidor Pirates at the Reservation. All four teams have plenty to play for, as there is just one more week of the regular season after tonight's action. The winner Nederland’s game against LC-M will have control of its own destiny as far as who finishes in the third and final playoff spot. Vidor (8-2) and PN-G (8-2), on the other hand, are playing for the district title. With Vidor and LC-M meeting April 25 for the final game of league play, the Dogs and Indians have the best opportunity to seal their fate with wins tonight. The Bulldogs and Bears are tied for third in district after three straight victories from Nederland and three straight losses from LC-M knotted each team at 7-4. Of the Bears’ three losses, two of them have been decided by at least 10 runs. The most recent 10-run ruling came at the hands of the Dayton Broncos, who thrashed the Bears 12-1 on Tuesday night. The Bulldogs have really picked up steam heading into tonight's matchup. Last Friday, they pounded out nine hits in their 6-3 win over PN-G. Then, on Tuesday, Kirby Bellow pitched a gem and started a seventh- inning rally that eventually led the Bulldogs to a 1-0 victory over the Ozen Panthers (6-5). LC-M beat Nederland 7-3 in the first meeting on March 25. The Bulldogs outhit the Bears 10-9 in that contest but left nine runners stranded. Down 1-0, the Bears scored three in the third and three more in the fourth off Cody Laird to take a 6-1 lead. Josh Dean, who pitched five solid innings against PN-G to get the win last week, took the hill in the fourth inning against LC-M. Dean only surrendered one run in his 3.2 innings of work, and is the likely candidate to take the hill tonight. In his start against PN-G, Dean was very sharp, giving up just three runs. As far as pitching goes, no one could be more ready than the Tribe. PN-G's Eric Harrington has had plenty of rest, pitching just one inning on Tuesday and has not had a start since April 8. Mitchell Todd, the Tribe's regular No. 2 will also be ready to go if necessary. Vidor beat the Indians 4-3 on March 25. That decision came on a walk-off home run in the ninth inning off Todd. Harrington received a no-decision in that game, after pitching eight innings and allowing only three unearned runs. In District 22-4A softball, both the PN-G Lady Indians and the Nederland Lady Bulldogs have guaranteed playoff spots.
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