A baseball lies on the mound.
Bob Booth
Special to the Star-Telegram
FORT WORTH
Two district rivals playing the second of a two-game series on consecutive nights — The Fort Worth Southwest Christian Eagles came away with an 8-4 win over the Fort Worth Christian Cardinals Friday at Keck-Horton Field.
The victory enabled Southwest Christian to gain a split in the series, after Fort Worth Christian had taken a 10-inning, 5-2 triumph at SCS the previous night.
“Huge win for us tonight,” said Southwest Christian head coach Rusty Beam. “We needed it for our confidence.”
Southwest Christian (19-4) jumped out early, scoring six runs in the top of the first, on just three hits, but used five walks to for a big early advantage. “We showed a lot patience at the plate in that first inning,” said Beam. “We wanted to come out and set the tone, and I think we did that.”
Max Woerner capped the opening frame with a two-RBI single for the Eagles, the No. 6 ranked team in the Texas High School Baseball (THSB) Large Private School most recent poll.
Fort Worth Christian, the No. 3 ranked team in that same poll, pushed across a run in the bottom of the fourth. Southwest Christian answered with a pair in the top of the fifth. Paul Worlow led off with a double and then the Eagles used three perfectly placed bunts — one a single and other two sacrifices that moved runners — to extend the lead to 8-1.
“Great execution on those bunts,” said Beam. “Guys did a great job in getting those down. That gave us some added cushion.”
The Cardinals mounted a rally in the bottom of the fifth. A Jacob Ward single, and back-to-back walks loaded the bases with no outs. Beam then brought in reliever Brodie Bravomalo.
Braylen James drilled a two-RBI single followed by a Jaxon Casselberry sacrifice fly that narrowed the SCS lead to 8-4. But Bravomalo limited the damage and then pitched a 1-2-3 sixth and seventh innings to preserve the win.
“Unbelievable job by Brodie,” said Beam. “We had used our closer the night before, and he was not available to pitch in this game.”
Beam credited his team’s execution in gaining a split.
“Tough game in that 10-inning loss,” he said. “We did not execute very well in that game. Tonight, we executed our game.”
Fort Worth Christian (15-4-1) standout shortstop Grady Emerson, a Texas signee who is the top-ranked player in the state (and No. 1 nationally), had blasted a pair of solo home runs (first and third innings) in the extra inning contest.
SCS had won 18 of 19 games entering this two-game series after starting the season 0-2. In the second game of the series, Emerson, in four plate appearance, had a single, a walk and scored a pair of runs.
“Obviously a great player,” Beam said of Emerson. “But Fort Worth Christian is a very talented team all over. Just so happy we got the split.”
Not knowing how the rest of district play turns out, determining the district champ could come down to tiebreakers.
“Not sure what all the tiebreaker rules are this year, if it comes to that,” said Beam, whose team was a TAPPS DII state semifinalist a year ago. “A lot of baseball left to be played. Just have to wait and see how it all unfolds. Right now we will enjoy this win.”