Just when the Wildcats thought they’d turned the corner, those problems - namely unexplainable errors and the inability to bring home base runners - returned to rear their ugly head in a 6-2 loss to Killeen Ellison at Hallford Field.
“It’s kind of the microcosm of how the season has been,” Temple coach Larry Haynes said.
It couldn’t have come at a more costly time.
A win would have given the Wildcats a two-game advantage for fourth place in District 12-5A and its final playoff spot. Instead, Temple dropped into a tie for fourth with Ellison.
Not only does Temple (8-16, 4-6 in 12-5A) need a win at 7 p.m. today at Hallford Field against Harker Heights, the Wildcats likely need to steal another victory later this week against either first-place Belton or second-place Bryan.
“We don’t have time to dwell on it,” Haynes said. “We just have to move forward and see if we can make something positive happen (today).”
Temple’s offense, which had scored at least six runs in its last two game, simply never found a way to crack Ellison’s Cal Somerville. In seven strong innings, Somerville allowed just two hits and had a no-hitter going until Parker Brown beat out an infield single with one out in the fifth.
Of course, Temple didn’t do itself any favors on defense.
Ellison leadoff hitter K.J. Stark reached on an error by second baseman Allen Rostovich in the first and came around to score after center fielder Parker Brown dropped a routine fly ball.
“We mishandled two balls that should have been two routine outs,” Haynes said. “That’s how it’s been.”
That was just about all Ellison (7-16-1, 4-6) would get off left-hander Kevin Lock for quite a while.
Other than a pair of hits in the third inning, including an RBI single by Ryan Bates, Lock was dominant. He struck out 12 batters in the first five innings and 14 overall, one shy of his career high. That brings Lock’s season total to 94, good for fifth place on Temple’s single-season strikeout list.
In seven innings, Lock (4-4) allowed six runs and four hits, but walked six and hit a batter.
“He did about what he could,” Haynes said. “Of course, we didn’t help him early on when they scored one in the first inning.”
Things quickly unraveled for Lock and the Wildcats in the top of the seventh inning, trailing 2-1.
With the bases loaded, Lock hit Justin Dingman to bring home a run. The next two batters, designated hitter Cameron Havens and Pedro Varela, got RBI groundouts and another run scored on a passed ball to give the Eagles a 6-1 lead.
“Maybe we could have made it more interesting at the end had we not given up a couple there in the seventh,” Haynes said.
Temple tried to climb back in it in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases for Lock. But he struck out on three pitches to end the game.
The Wildcats gave themselves plenty of chances late in the game to atone for those early defensive mistakes. But Ellison’s Cal Somerville quieted those chances, making sure Temple stranded seven runners.
Somerville, the Eagles’ ace, managed to earn the win despite five errors by his defense.
The final error helped Kelley Cast score from third for the Wildcats’ final run in the seventh. Shortstop Isaac Matamoros had one of the hits off Somerville, a single to left field in the fifth inning.
