KFDM COOP Posted May 30, 2009 Report Posted May 30, 2009 Cardinals’ season ends at hands in Panthers in 3 Gabriel Pruett The Orange Leader LUFKIN — A tough way to end a season. The Bridge City Cardinals pulled off a miraculous Game 2 win, 6-5, only to watch No. 1 Spring Hill blast its way to a 12-6 win in Game 3 to advance to the Class 3A Region III Regional Finals. The Panthers will now face Carthage who swept Taylor in two games. The heart break for the Cardinals started in the top of the third when the Panthers broke loose for an 8-0 run inning. The first six Spring Hill batters all reached base and scored with Miles Peloquin picking up a two-run double and Nico Moran, Jake Fudge, Brandon Arden, Ryan Lacy and Dylan Brown each having RBI in the inning. “That eight-run inning was painful,†Bridge City senior catch Grant Encalade said. “Every time they hit the ball it seemed to fall somewhere. Everything went their way in Game 3 and sometimes that happens.†Bridge city coach Chad Landry, in his first season with the Cardinals, also could not believe how long the top of the third lasted. “Everything they hit found somewhere,†Landry said. “There were a couple errors and walks so things can get ugly. These kids have nothing to be ashamed of. I am proud of them.†The Cardinals did a great job to force Game 3. Bridge City trailed 5-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh in Game 2 with Spring Hill ace Garrett Methvin on the bump. Matt Hicks and Luke Rhodes led off with walks. Hicks’ walk chased Methvin out of the game after hurling 114 pitches with six strike outs and five walks and four hits. Blake Hubbard then had an infield single to set up Caleb Kellogg, the Game 2 starter for the Cardinals. Kellogg erased his name off the loss column with a three-run double to right field to give Bridge City the victory. Kellogg worked 6 2/3 innings and gave up five runs on six hits with four strike outs and one walk. Forrest Zoch got the final out in the top of the seventh to earn the victory. “Game 2 set up great for us,†Landry said. “Methvin was done after throwing what seemed like 5,000 pitches in this series. It was a 1-2 count and Kellogg did exactly what he has been doing a lot of here lately. We had a lot of momentum going into Game 3 and we were far from tired.†The wheels fell off for the Cardinals in the top of the third and starter Blake Snyder, a senior was knocked out of the game, after not giving up a hit in the first two innings. Snyder even pulled off a rare feat in the top of the second, striking out four batters. Fudge struck out but reached first on a passed ball. Snyder then struck out Lacy to complete the four-inning strike out accomplishment. The Cardinals got a run back in the bottom of the fourth when Blake Hubbard scored off a Spring Hill error, something the Panthers did not commit a lot of in the series. Kellogg then stayed hot in the bottom of the sixth with a one-out double and scored when Clay Edwards had a RBI double to make it 8-2. Anthony Cessac scored to make it 8-3 after he singled and scored on a balk. Edwards later scored to make it 8-4 after six complete when Michael Schrieber hit a RBI single to left. Bridge City gave the runs right back in the top of the seventh as Spring Hill scored four runs. Lacy and Brown each had two more RBI on singles to make it 12-4. Hicks led the bottom of the seventh off with a walk and Jared Raggio came off the bench for a double. Hubbard plated Hicks on a ground out and Raggio scored the Cardinals’ last run of the season when Kellogg picked up his eighth RBI of the series on a single to left. Hicks praised Spring Hill and know wants the Panthers to make sure the Cardinals lost to the state champions. “They were a great team and deserve that No. 1 ranking,†Hicks said. “We made some mistakes in the series and they capitalized. They made zero big errors all series long. “I could not be more proud of this team. All these guys are my best friends and I hate seeing some of them leave. We did great things this year. Tonight we proved we did not want it to end.†Landry ends his first season at Bridge City with a 26-7-1 record and a District 21-3A championship. “I knew there would be pressure coming in,†Landry said. “We had a great group of seniors. They can always say they were district champions and regional semi-finalists.†Encalade was also proud of the 2009 Cardinals. “We had a great year,†Encalade, the salutatorian at BCHS this year, said. “The season just did not end the way we wanted it to. We wish Spring Hill the best and hope we just lost to the state champions.â€
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