Bearcats sweep Saginaw, remain undefeated in district

Behind another spectacular outing by Devin Miller, the Aledo Bearcats closed out their two-game set with Saginaw with another win on Friday, April 5, to remain unblemished since starting their District 5-5A schedule. After edging the Rough Riders on their own field earlier in the week, Aledo outscored Saginaw 5-1 with the help of a Ryan Jones home run.

Aledo scored three runs in the home half of the first inning to put the Rough Riders down early. Brooks Burdine beat out a ground ball to second for an infield base hit. Jones, the three-hole hitter, raked the 1-1 offering to the opposite field for a two-run homer as the ball sailed over the right-field fence.

Leading 2-0, Drew Weckel came to the plate looking to keep the rally going. It took nine pitches, but eventually he earned his way aboard with a walk. 

Next to the plate, Brennon Evans was plunked by the Saginaw hurler, to put runners on first and second with one out.

Two batters later, Lucas Nawrocki singled on a ball that leaked through into right field that allowed Weckel to score as the Bearcats went up 3-0. 

Luke Trager scored a run in the bottom of the second inning on a single by Burdine. Burdine came around to score once again later on in the fifth inning on a single up the middle by Weckel. 

After starting off the top of the third by giving up a single, Miller retired 13 Rough Riders in a row before the streak came to an end in the top of the seventh inning.

Bounced by Birdville

Just a day after winning their sixth consecutive district game, the Bearcats dropped a non-district matchup to Birdville on Saturday, April 6, by a score of 4-1. 

Including non-district play, the Bearcats’ win streak stood at seven games prior to the loss. 

Birdville scored three runs in the first two innings off Aledo’s Noah Graham to take the early lead. While Graham got roughed up on the hill for Aledo, he also scored the lone run of the game for the Bearcats.

Trailing 3-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth, Graham reached base on an error by the Birdville third baseman. He advanced to second on a ground out, then moved on to third with a base hit before eventually being driven in on a sacrifice fly by Miller.

Birdville went on to add another run in the top half of the seventh inning to produce the final score.

Aledo vs. Saginaw – Fri, April 5

R H  E

Saginaw 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 1   6  0

Bearcats 3 1 0 0 1 0 0 -  5   7  0

Aledo hitting: Brooks Burdine 3-for-3, SB, 2 R, RBI; Ryan Jones 1-for-3, HR, 2 RBI, R; Drew Weckel 1-for-2, RBI, R, BB; Brennon Evans HBP, BB; Lucas Nawrocki 1-for-2, RBI; Luke Trager 1-for-2, R.

Aledo pitching: Devin Miller 7 IP, 5 H, R (earned), 0 BB, 8 K.

Aledo vs. Birdville – Sat, April 6

R H  E

Birdville 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 - 4   8  1

Bearcats 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 -  1  5  1

Aledo hitting: Johnny Ruflin 1-for-3, BB; Weston Nance BB; Zeke Garcia 2-for-2, 2B, BB; Noah Graham 1-for-2, 2B, BB, R; Danny Rodriguez 1-for-3; Miller RBI.

Aledo pitching: Graham 2 IP, 4 H, 3 R (3 earned), 2 BB, 3 K; Nawrocki 2 IP, 3 BB, 6 K; Jake Bumgardner 1 IP, H, BB; Ethan Hodo 1 IP, H, 2 K; Riley Haug 1 IP, 2 H, R (earned), BB, 2 K.