Bearcats claim undefeated district title

The Aledo Bearcats baseball team wrapped up their sixth straight district title with an 18-5 win against Azle on April 24. On top of the district title, all three Bearcat baseball teams, including freshman and JV, finished with an undefeated district record.

The Bearcats, having just scraped by the Hornets earlier in the week, blew them out 18-4 to capture the program’s sixth straight district title.

Aledo was no-hit and trailing Azle until the sixth inning before coming alive to steal the win in game one, despite the Hornets being a team that needed the win to try and stay in playoff contention.

The Bearcats would not let themselves get in a similar situation in the second game, though the first inning brought upon some deja vu.

After Aledo failed to get any base runners on base, the Hornets scored on the base paths while the Bearcats tried to prevent a steal and later gave up an RBI single. Azle was ahead 2-0 after the first inning.

Aledo bats did not wait anymore. In the second inning, Will Cayce hit a sacrifice fly ball to drive in the first run. Later Jackson Loos drove in a run with a double. Next batter Connor Whitmire then hit a single to get Loos home and the Bearcats led 3-2.

In the third inning, Aledo’s Landon Barnes got things going with an RBI double. Two batters later Dylan Duran drove him in with a single to right field.

Azle showed some fight later in the inning. The Hornets loaded the bases with two drawn walks and a hit batter. Dane Browne came in to pitch relief. Two batters later, a passed ball allowed one run to score and then a single drove in two more runs as Azle tied the score up at 5-5 heading into the fourth inning.

Aledo bats kept up the heat to get the lead back. Barnes drove in a run with a single. Lucas Nawrocki followed with a double that drove in one run, but an error getting the ball into the infield allowed another run to score. The Bearcats had the lead back 8-5 and this time they kept it as their bullpen and defense did not give up any more runs.

The Aledo offense kept on firing in the fifth inning. Wilson Sehnem hit an RBI single. That was followed by an RBI double from Luke Gladchuk before Barnes drove him in with a single. The Bearcats lead increased to 11-5.

In the sixth inning, Kaler Mazon drove in one run as he grounded out to first base as Aledo’s lead grew to 12-5.

The final inning was where the Bearcats ran away with the game despite playing plenty of substitute players.

Barnes drove in two more runs with a bases-loaded double to kick off the scoring. Several batters later, Brady Huffman scored on a wild pitch. Cayce’s ground ball to third base resulted in an error that allowed another run to score.

With the bases loaded, Paxton Psencik drew a full count walk to drive in one run. Next batter Reid Huffman hit a single that drove in the final run.

Aledo wrapped up an 18-5 win.

Barnes had a banner day, leading the team with five RBI and four hits, with two of them being doubles. Cayce drove in two runs for second place. The Bearcats had nine players drive in one run as the team finished with 15 hits and drew 11 walks.

On the mound, Browne pitched 2.2 innings of relief and allowed no runs on one hit while striking out three. Garrett Love pitched the final two innings and also allowed no runs on one hit while striking out four. Defensively, the team had two fielding errors.

Coach Chad Barry liked his team’s approach at the plate and the adjustments they made, especially after game one. Defensively, there are some things he says they need to review and work on.

With the playoffs starting and Aledo expecting to defend its state title, Barry calls it phase three of the season which takes a different approach from the first two.

“The playoffs are unique because everything that has happened in the first two phases of the season no longer matters,” Barry said. “Nobody cares what your record is, or if you won district. It is all about taking this phase one game at a time and playing your very best baseball at this time of the year.”

Aledo plays Colleyville Heritage in the bi-district round in a best of three. At press time Game One was scheduled for Wednesday, but had to be rescheduled.

April 24

Bearcats 18, Azle 5

RHE

Aledo 032 331 6 - 18 15 2

Azle 203 000 0 - 5 4 2

Aledo offense: Landon Barnes four hits, two doubles, five RBIs, three runs, one steal; Will Cayce two RBIs, one run, one walk; Dylan Duran two hits, one double, one RBI, three runs, three walks, two steals; Wilson Sehnem two hits, one RBI, two runs; Luke Gladchuk one hit, one double, one RBI, two runs; one walk; Lucas Nawrocki one hit, one double, one RBI, one run, one walk; Jackson Loos two hits, one double, one RBI, one run, one steal; Connor Whitmire one hit, one RBI, two walks; Reid Huffman one hit, one RBI; Paxton Psencik one RBI, one walk; Kaler Mazon one RBI, two runs, one steal; Asher Little one run, one walk; Brady Huffman one hit, one run.

Aledo pitching: Luke Sandefur 2.1 innings, two hits, five runs, four earned runs, five strikeouts, four walks; Dane Browne (W) 2.2 innings, one hit, zero runs, three strikeouts, one walk; Garrett Love two innings, one hit, zero runs, four strikeouts, one walk.