Baseball: Bearcats close third-round series in convincing fashion

In their first regional semifinal game, the No. 8 Aledo Bearcats had to claw back in dramatic fashion on Thursday, May 15. In the Friday afternoon contest, Aledo showed no mercy on the scoreboard. As a result, the Bearcats emerged victorious from their regional semifinal series over the Amarillo Sandies. Aledo took Game 1 by a final score of 3-2 followed by a 15-2 victory in Game 2.

In the first game, both teams remained in a scoreless deadlock through six innings, until Amarillo broke through with two seventh-inning runs to take a 2-0 lead. However, the Bearcats were on the comeback trail. An RBI cut the deficit in half and the hits kept coming.

With outfielders Luke Gladchuk and Blake Burdine already on base following singles, designated hitter Lucas Nawrocki stepped up to the plate and launched the ball to deep left center just inside the fence. From there, Gladchuk raced across home plate to tie the score at 2-2 and Burdine delivered the winning run by a fraction of a second as he slid safely under the tag at home plate. From there, Aledo took all of its momentum into Game 2, which was ultimately a one-sided affair that was decided by 13 runs in five innings.

Now, Aledo (27-2, 10-0) will attempt to join the Ladycats in their own state tournament with one more pivotal series left against Region I competition. Next, the Bearcats will face Colleyville Heritage in the regional finals with series details to be announced.