The Bearcats won game one in front of a packed home crowd 3-0 before later closing out the series at the Panthers field, winning 5-3.
Aledo came into the series confident, but knew it would be tested by Paschal’s two starting pitchers. Thankfully, the Bearcats had their own pitching and defense to fall back on in the series.
Game one saw Aledo start Lucas Nawrocki on the mound going against the Panthers’ Matthew Hernandez.
Nawrocki pulled double duty and also led off for the Bearcats in the game and got a single. Kaler Mazon came in to run for him. Mazon stole second base and was able to advance to third base on a wild pitch to give Aledo a chance to score in the first inning.
With one out, Landon Barnes hit a ground ball to third base. Mazon dove for home plate, but was called out as the Bearcats left inning one empty handed.
Aledo made up for it in the second inning. Dylan Duran led off with a single. He advanced to second base on a groundout. During the next at-bat, two wild pitches allowed Duran to first go to third base before coming home to score the game’s first run. The Bearcats led 1-0.
A defensive highlight in the third inning saw Aledo first baseman Jackson Loos snag a hard hit line drive down the line before stepping on first base for a double-play.
Neither pitcher allowed more than one base runner as batters had trouble getting anything going for either team.
Aledo clung to its one-run lead until the sixth inning where it got some room to breathe. Nawrocki helped himself on the mound by leading off the bottom of the inning with a solo home run to right field that was followed by an emphatic bat flip to fire up the Bearcats.
It did as one batter later Landon Barnes was able to get on base thanks to an error on the throw from third to first base, which allowed him to reach second base. During the next at-bat, Barnes advanced to third base thanks to an error by the pitcher before Luke Gladchuk was hit by a pitch to put two runners on base with one out.
Gladchuk stole second base before Duran hit a ground ball to second base. The throw home was in time despite Barnes diving headfirst and wrestling on the ground with the catcher, trying to show he was touched home plate before being called out.
Gladchuk did advance to third base which became important when another wild pitch allowed him to come home to score a run to put Aledo up 3-0.
That was enough for Nawrocki on the mound as he struck out two of the final three batters to secure the win and a shutout, striking out 11 batters while allowing only two hits.
He also had two of his team’s three hits in the game, including the home run. The Bearcats offense had to be opportunistic, not able to draw any walks, but getting hit by two pitches, stealing five bases and taking advantage of the two fielding errors Paschal had in the game.
Aledo knew it would not be much easier in game two with Panther pitcher Owen Settle being an Abilene Christian University signee.
The Bearcats found themselves on the wrong foot in the first inning. After failing to get any base runners on, Aledo pitcher Luke Sandefur walked the first two Paschal batters. The next batter laid down a bunt, but an error throwing the ball to first base allowed one run to come in and score. Later in the inning a Panther hitter hit a sacrifice fly ball deep enough to allow another run to score.
Aledo was trailing 2-0 after the first inning.
The Bearcats got a boost to start the second inning. Nawrocki led off the inning and hit another solo home run, cutting the lead in half with Aledo now trailing 2-1.
Sandefur recovered well and did not allow more than one base runner to get one base in the next three innings.
In the fourth inning the Bearcats were able to tie the score. Barnes hit a one-out triple. Two batters later he was able to score thanks to a wild pitch to make the score 2-2.
In the fifth inning Dane Browne came in to pitch relief and despite a leadoff single, he was able to continue to stifle Paschal hitters.
This allowed Aledo batters to grab the lead in the top of the fifth inning. Gladchuk hit a one-out single. Two batters later Nawrocki drew a walk before Duran came through with a two-RBI double to right field. The Bearcats led 4-2.
Aledo added to its lead in the seventh inning. Mazon pinch hit to lead off the inning and drew a walk. During the next at-bat he stole second base before Reid Huffman, who also was inserted to pinch hit, came through with an RBI single. The Bearcats led 5-2.
The Panthers had one last gasp of life left in them. With two outs, they hit a solo home run shot before the next batter hit a single to try and spark a comeback two-out rally. Browne recovered and induced a fly out to center field for the final out.
Aledo won the game 5-3 and the series 2-0.
Duran led the team with two RBI while Nawrocki’s second home run of the series along with Huffman’s pinch-hit home run were the offensive highlights for the Bearcats. As a team, Aledo finished with five hits while drawing four walks in a little bit of a better day at the plate.
Sandefur pitched four innings and finished with two runs allowed, but zero runs earned, while allowing zero hits, four strikeouts and walking three batters. Browne pitched three innings and allowed one run on three hits while striking out two batters.
Overall, it was a good test for the area round for an Aledo team expecting to go all the way again. Coach Chad Barry thought his team played well overall and thinks the challenge it provided will help the team in the Bearcats’ next series.
“I thought Paschal had two really great pitchers,” Barry said. “There weren't too many adjustments, other than make some adjustments at the plate. I felt like we looked at too many third strikes. We just kept telling them to keep battling, find ways to get on base. I think Lucas Nawrocki had a tremendous series. He pitched really well on Thursday and also hit really well in both games. Paschal put pressure on us, especially in game two. They got an early lead and we had to battle back to win late in the game. I think that helps with the confidence moving forward. I think Paschal's pitching also showed us some things as well. We definitely can make some adjustments to our approach at the plate.”
Aledo is next scheduled to play Amarillo in the regional semifinals, a repeat of last year’s series in the same round the Bearcats won 2-0. The familiarity between the teams is being factored in for Barry heading into the best of three series.
“Amarillo is a very athletic team, they like to put pressure on your defense with their baserunners,” Barry said. “They have strong pitching, and defense as well as a really stout offense. They were a pretty young team last year when we played them. So they have a lot of experience coming back, which makes them a tough opponent.”
All games are scheduled to be played at Abilene Christian University. Game one was played on May 14 while game two is scheduled for 1 p.m. on May 15. If a game three is needed it will start 30 minutes after the end of game two.
Aledo offense: Lucas Nawrocki two hits, one home run, one RBI, one run; Dylan Duran one hit, one run, two steals; Luke Gladchuk one run, one hit by pitch, one steal; Will Cayce one hit by pitch, one steal; Kaler Mazon one steal.
Aledo pitching: Lucas Nawrocki seven innings, two hits, zero runs, 11 strikeouts.
Aledo offense: Dylan Duran one hit, one double, two RBIs; Lucas Nawrocki one hit, one home run, two runs, two walks; Reid Huffman one hit, one RBI; Landon Barnes one hit, one triple, one run; Luke Gladchuk one hit, one run; Kaler Mazon one run, one steal, one walk; Will Cayce one walk.
Aledo pitching: Luke Sandefur four innings, zero hits, two runs, zero earned runs, four strikeouts, three walks; Dane Browne (W) three innings, three hits, one run, two strikeouts, one walk.
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