Those of us a little longer in the tooth can remember the Wide World of Sports phrase from Jim McKay who said, “the thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat.” I thought about that many times after the Orangefield Bobcats season came to an end to the Franklin Lions Saturday in the Region III Final.
In a wild three days in Lufkin, it started with spending three plus hours in the parking lot Thursday waiting for a storm to move through. It didn’t and we were pushed to Friday. The team had to move to Nacogdoches to find a hotel with electricity while some of us tried to sleep in a powerless room.
Friday would be changed to a doubleheader, something Orangefield Coach Tim Erickson was trying to avoid with the heat. But probably no other sport has to handle adaption more than baseball.
Down 5-1 in the fifth, the Bobcats would begin a comeback that will forever be legendary. They were able to score a run in the fifth and the sixth to make it 5-3. In the seventh with two outs, Erickson brings in freshman Carson Gonzales who doubled to score Logan Cheek. Matt Johnson would follow with a single to score Kyler Green who was running for Gonzales and send the game into extra innings.
After pitcher Garrett Rawls took down the Lions in the top of the eighth the Bobcats would load the bases with a single by Kane Smith, Cheek was hit by a pitch, and an intentional walk to Caleb Fregia. Rawls was next to bat with two outs and with each pitch, Smith was keyed in on the battery. And with two strikes he saw his shot as both the pitcher and catcher blinked at the same time and Smith stole home and the Bobcats walked off with the 6-5 win.
Unfortunately in the next game, Orangefield (30-10) could not match their Game One success. A three run homer over the big centerfield fence in the first inning of Game Two wiped away any smiles left from the walk off win.
The Lions would win Game Two 7-0 to force a Game Three on Saturday. The Bobcats would get a chance to reset as the series turned into a one game playoff for reservations to Round Rock.
The third game was scoreless after two innings but the Lions bats would come alive in the third as well as the Bobcat miscues. Rain would make its first appearance in the fifth with the Bobcats down 5-0. OF had eight baserunners in that time but were still looking for their first hit. Maybe the delay would change the momentum?
After an hour delay the Lions would continue making plans for the Semifinals with three more runs in the fifth including a homerun to make it 8-0.
To add insult to injury the game would see a second rain delay in the sixth. When it finally resumed, we would never find out if the Bobcats had any seventh inning magic left like they had in Gm. 1. The Lions would score two and end the contest with a 10-0 six inning run-rule win and a no-hitter for pitcher Cadyn Shaw with eight walks.
“There’s three things you have to have to make it to State,” Erickson said. “You have to be a good team. You have to play your best in the playoffs and you have to have a little luck. We are a good team and we played our best and had the breaks the first four rounds. It just didn’t happen this weekend. Even in the first game, I felt like we overcame some things to get that win. We went from being the team that’s turning 5-6 double plays a series to just the opposite this round. When we got a solid hit it was right to them and then we did the uncharacteristic things with the errors (9 in the series).”
Following the game, Erickson gathered the team in right field. “We told them how proud we were of them. They set a record with thirty wins. We started the season rough but they stuck with it and made it all the way to the Region final.” Erickson then held a meeting with just his 12 seniors. “Those guys are not just great baseball players, they’re better leaders. They handled this program how we expect. We have high expectations and those guys set the tone, they set the example, and they take a lot of pressure off us as coaches. We couldn’t have asked for a better senior group.”
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3A State Tournament
Friday, June 7 Dell Diamond, Round Rock
3A SEMIFINALS
9:00 a.m. Corpus Christi London (39-3) vs. Brock (34-3)
12:00 p.m. Gunter (37-1) vs. Franklin (33-5)
Saturday, June 8 Dell Diamond, Round Rock
9:00 a.m. Conference 3A Final
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