Bobcats need extra innings to beat Pirates

The Thursday night district match-up between the Kaplan Pirates and the Erath Bobcats felt more like a heavyweight title match than it did a high school baseball game.
Erath would eventually get the knockout blow in the ninth inning, and win 16-10, but not before being knocked down a couple of times by the scrappy Pirates.
“We like to think that our schedule helped us out,” Erath Head Coach David Jordan said. “We have been down before, and tried to fight back, and just couldn’t seem to pull it out. All those times we have done that this year taught us to fight back, and it helped tonight.
“That’s a good team over there. Those boys can swing the bat as well as any team that we have played this year. I honestly was a little scared. I’m just proud of the way we just fought back.”
The Bobcats would take an early lead over the Pirates.
At the end of the fifth inning, the Bobcats were up by the score of 7-2, and heading into the bottom of the fifth inning it seemed as though the Pirates would stay down for the count.
They didn’t. The Pirates got up and came out swinging.
Kaplan would score three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to close the gap to 7-5.
Then in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Pirates delivered a haymaker to the Bobcats, in the form of a Slade Bouillion three-run home run, to give the Pirates an 8-7 lead.
The Pirates would add another run to make the game 9-7 heading into the seventh inning.
The Bobcats may have been sent reeling after the Bouillion home run, came out and added three runs of their own in the top of the seventh.
The Bobcats used back to back walks by Alec Toups and Tyler Touchet to set up a two RBI double by Ben LeBlanc.
LeBlanc would also score to make the score 10-9, Erath.
The Pirates down one heading into the bottom of the seventh found themselves down to their last batter.
With two strikes, two outs, and a runner on second base, third basemen Brady Mott stepped up and hit an RBI double to left center to score Rhett Gaspard from second, and tie the game at 10-10.
In the top of the ninth inning the Bobcats would finally deliver the knock out plow to the Pirates by batting around the lineup and scoring six runs in the top of the ninth for the eventual 16-10 victory.
“I am proud of my team,” Kaplan Head Coach Sam Taulli said. “I’m proud of the way they are learning how to play this game. The little things are the things that lost it for us and won it for them today. I’m very proud of the way they competed.
“I told them after last game, you understand how hard you have to fight to win games against quality teams. They fought today, and did everything I asked them to do.”
Brady Mott led the way for the Pirates from the plate. He was 4-for-5 with three singles, a double, two RBIs and two runs scored.
Slade Bouillion was 3-for-4 with two singles and the three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The Pirates record now stands at 7-15 overall and 2-4 in district play.
Ross Granger led the way for the Bobcats by going 1-for-4. His lone hit was an RBI double, but he reached base on errors three times and scored all three times.
Alec Toups was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two walks.
The Bobcats record now stands at 12-9 overall and 4-0 in district play.
This win marks the seventh straight victory for the Bobcats.

Andy Bullard
Sports Editor