Belton mustered just five hits off the senior right-hander and Eric Johnson’s two-run double in the fourth inning was the difference as the Tigers fell to the Red Raiders 2-1 on Thursday night at Panther Field in the first game of a Class 5A Region II quarterfinal playoff series.
“In this type of game when the pitching is going good on both sides, it comes down to trying to capitalize on every opportunity you get and don’t make any mistakes,” first-year Belton coach Eddie Cornblum said.
“We didn’t make any defensive mistakes but we didn’t capitalize when we had (scoring) opportunities. In this type of game, if you get one pitch, you capitalize on that one pitch and we just didn’t do that tonight.”
The Tigers (23-8) must beat Lee (24-2-2) twice Saturday to keep their season alive. Game 2 is scheduled for noon and Game 3 will follow if necessary.
Yanker (8-0) needed just 76 pitches - 61 strikes - to breeze through Belton’s lineup. He struck out seven batters and didn’t walk any.
“He had all his pitches working. That was the key,” Lee coach Mike Pirtle said. “This is such a good hitting team. He just kept them off-balance.”
Said Cornblum: “He was lulling us asleep on the outside half. Our guys weren’t able to make adjustments tonight. When a guy is in a rhythm like that, it’s hard to get guys to be patient and wait for your pitch.”
That offset Beck’s second straight stellar performance. After throwing a five-hitter in Belton’s Game 2 win over Mesquite Horn on Saturday, Beck (6-2) allowed four hits and struck out eight against the Red Raiders. The game lasted just 1 hour, 26 minutes.
“I felt better tonight than I did last weekend. My curveball was working great,” said Beck, who threw 61 of his 85 pitches for strikes.
Said Pirtle: “Their kid did the same exact thing (as Yanker). It’s just that we got the one hit with two guys on and they got the one hit with one guy on.”
With one out in the fourth, Beck allowed a single down the left-field line to Colin Moore. He got Zach Cannon to pop up to first base before allowing another bloop single to Jonathan Cook down the left-field line to put runners on first and second with two outs. He fell behind 2-0 in the count before Johnson smashed a fastball to left-center to score courtesy runner Andrew Hahn and Cook.
Belton tried to answer in the sixth. With one out, Brett Hernandez singled up the middle and Shane Hoelscher, who entered Thursday’s game 20 for his last 31, drilled a double to right-center. Red Raiders center fielder Travis Laird mishandled the ball on the play, allowing Hernandez to score to trim the lead to 2-1.
Yanker came through, getting John Nieberding to fly out to right and Dillon Newman to fly out harmlessly to left.
In the seventh, Kevin Thornton (2-for-2, reached base three times) singled to right with one out but was stranded when Justin Dechert flew out to right and pinch hitter Tyler Vail struck out to end the game.
“In a 2-1 game, obviously we can hang with this team,” Cornblum said. “We just have to come back. You have to win two games anyways. Might as well win two on Saturday."
cmeister@temple-telegram.com
