Bears bash Falcons to advance to area round

[KFDM COOP]

Bears bash Falcons to advance to area round

Gabe Pruett

The Orange Leader

LITTLE CYPRESS — Getting 12 1/3 innings from two starting pitchers Saturday went a long way for the Little Cypress-Mauriceville Battlin’ Bears against the Huffman Falcons.

Dallas Brown threw a complete game in Game 2 of the Class 4A Region III bi-district round to win 8-5 and Matt Johnson went 5 1/3 in a 11-2 in Game 3 to seal the deal.

The Falcons won Game 1 8-4 in Spring at DeKaney High School to force Saturday’s doubleheader.

The Bears (24-8) were up to the challenge at Don Gibbons Field with their backs to the walls.

Now LC-M will face Lamar Consolidated in next week’s area round. The Mustangs were district champions out of District 24-4A.

Huffman (19-8) had no answer for Brown in the first game and then found Johnson equally as tough to hit off against.

“For those two to both throw over 100 pitches each was huge,†LC-M Coach Steve Griffith. “We needed both of them to throw near complete games and they did it. Taylor Thompson also did a great job in Game 3.â€Thompson finished Game 3’s final 1 2/3 and gave up just one hit and struck out four of the eight batters he faced.

After the Bears were only able to scratch across six hits Friday night, it took until the fourth inning of Game 2 for LC-M to break out their normal-big bats.

Stefan Cloeren, who went 3-for-3 in Game 2, woke up the crowd and the LC-M bench with a grand slam off Huffman’s Andrew Kiessling to put LC-M up 7-4.

The jolt of excitement seemed to never leave the Bears after Cloeren’s no-doubter.

“That felt great,†Cloeren said. “It definitely got the team going.â€

Johnson even acknowledged how huge Cloeren’s grand slam was.“Stefan turned the whole series around,†Johnson said. “He said he was going to turn it up in the playoffs and it is already showing. We are starting to feel more confident as a team. We know we can get the job done and make a long run of this.â€

Johnson had the big hit in Game 3 by helping himself out with a fifth-inning homer.

With one down and courtesy runner on first, Johnson sent a 2-2 pitch over the fence to give the Bears a 5-2 lead. Vaughn was running for catcher Stefan Leger who had singled.

“It is always nice to help yourself out,†Johnson said. “We got a long of big hits today. I was just looking for something to drive. He (Kyle Meadows) threw inside and I was able to turn on it.â€

LC-M would go on to score six runs in the fifth inning of Game 2 to put the game away.

Tim Barry had another three-double afternoon in Game 3 and scored twice.

Barry hit a three-run double in the top of the fifth to make it 9-2.

In the top of the seventh, Barry led off with his third double of the evening and was plated when Jon Gunn roped a triple to right field making it 10-2.

Gunn made the final 11-2 score when he crossed home on a sacrifice fly by Leger.

LC-M erased a 2-0 deficit in the top of the third as Gunn led off with a walk and Chad Richard followed by reaching on an infield single.

Johnson brought Gunn home with a RBI single and Richard came in to score on a wild pitch.

Wade Estes the plated Cloeren on a squeeze bunt to put LC-M up for good, 3-2.

It is already a different story for the Battlin’ Bears who were knocked out in the area round last season by Bay City after LC-M won the District 22-4A championship and had a first round bye.

“We knew we could get it done and get out of the first round,†Brown said. “It was win or go home. It feels like a quick turn around from last season. It’s amazing.â€

Brown threw 109 pitches in Game 2 and gave up six hits while striking out seven batters and walking five.

“As a pitcher you always would like to go the whole game,†Brown added. “It’s always up to the coaches but I felt good today.â€

After Brown’s performance, Johnson gave up just two runs on four hits with six walks and six strike outs.

“I was really glad to clinch this for the seniors,†Johnson said. “Those guys have really worked hard this year. I was a little nervous but knew I had to throw strikes and just let my defense work behind me.â€

Cloeren added a RBI double in Game 2 and Chad Richard scored on an error.

Ben Jones added the Bears final run in Game 2 with a RBI double into leftfield that scored Cloeren who had reached on a single.

“We are very proud of these kids,†Griffith said. “We are going to let them rest and then figure out what is next. Lamar Consolidated is a good team, probably as good a team as we will see this year. Right now I just want the kids to enjoy this doubleheader win.â€

[East TX]

Good performance Bears.  There is nothing like that deep pitching 1-2-3-4 team when faced with viable playoff teams.

[Guest etbu]

East Tx check your pm's.