Lions eliminate Owls, face New Deal
The Lion baseball team battled the Hale Center Owls and the West Texas wind last week to sweep the Region I-2A regional semifinal round in two games.
Albany picked up a 2-0 win in Game 1 last Thursday, returning Saturday to clinch the set with a 5-2 win. Both bouts were played at Hermleigh’s all-weather faciltiy, but that didn’t help either team deal with 30 to 40 mph winds.
“The wind was a huge factor in the series,” coach David Fairchild said. “It was blowing straight in towards home base and really shrunk the field. The outfield had to play up close to the baselines.”
The Lions (19-6) advance to the Region I final series this week against New Deal (23-3-1). Game 1 is set for 5:00 p.m. Thursday at Moffett Field in Snyder, with the second game scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on Friday. A third game will follow 30 minutes after Game 2 if needed.
Ticket prices are $4 for adults and $2 for students, with all usual passes accepted.
The field is located at 3308 Towle Park Road North in Snyder.
Hermleigh High School, located nine miles south, will serve as a backup location in case rainy weather makes the Snyder field unplayable.
“New Deal has a very stable team,” Fairchild said. “They made it to Austin last year and only lost one senior off that team. We are going to have to be more sound in this series if we are going to advance.”
New Deal lost in the state semifinal round 3-2 to eventual champion Big Sandy.
“They are well-coached and have four solid pitchers,” the coach said. “Our challenge is going to be to stay focused on the game at hand and not get caught up in distractions.”
The Lions have experience at this level of competition as well, having advanced to the regional final series in 2016 against Stamford and making their first state tournament appearance in 2017 that ended in a 1-0 loss to Muenster in the semifinal round.
Hale Center Series
The coach called the two wins over Hale Center a “unique series.”
“We had 10 hits to their one in the first game,” he said. “We didn’t put the runs on the board that we should have, but the top of our line-up carried us. Our five through seven hole hitters all did a great job going two for three.”
Garnering the majority of the hits for the Lions were Cade Neve, Blaine Kayga, and Cooper Fairchild.
The big story of the first game was Ben West’s pitching.
“Ben went the full seven innings, striking out 13 and allowing only one hit,” the coach said. “He did a great job on the mound even with the wind.”
West only walked two runners.
The coach said that Game 2 was “more interesting,” with the wind still serving as a big factor.
“Cade Neve struggled with the wind from the mound even though he did get eight strikeouts in four and a third innings,” Fairchild said. “Josh Dyer came in as relief, striking out six and walking three.”
Neve allowed two runs on three hits, walking five. Dyer kept the Owls from getting a hit to preserve the win.
“This was a game with some key plays,” the coach said. “Jackson Chapman made a huge catch on a foul that went into the Owls dugout with bases loaded, stopping them from scoring.”
The coach said that William Webb was used in the game as a designated hitter, going two for three with two RBIs.
“William had a great game,” Fairchild said. “He really came on strong.”
The coach said that the Albany pitchers will have to tighten up their game somewhat going forward.
“We gave up 10 walks and made five errors between the two games,” he said. “We are going to have to have better control.”
GAME 1
SCORE BY INNING 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R/H/E
OWLS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0/1/2
ALBANY 0 1 0 1 0 0 x 2/10/2
INDIVIDUAL STATS
C Fairchild 2 for 3, 2 sgls
B Kayga 2 for 3, 2 sgls, 1 run
P Henry 1 for 3, 1 sgl, 1 RBI
C Neve 2 for 3, 2 sgls, 1 run
J Chapman 1 for 3, 1 sgl
BJ Morris 1 for 4, 1 sgl, 1 RBI
J Dyer 1 for 2, 1 sgl
W Webb 1 for 1, 1 sgl
GAME 2
SCORE BY INNING 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R/H/E
ALBANY 0 0 0 3 1 0 1 5/10/3
Owls 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2/3/3
INDIVIDUAL STATS
C Fairchild 1 for 2, 1 dbl, 3 runs
B Kayga 1 for 4, 1 sgl, 1 run
B West 2 for 5, 1 sgl, 1 dbl
C Neve 1 for 4, 1 sgl
BJ Morris 1 for 4, 1 sgl
L Ivy 1 for 2, 1 sgl, 1 RBI, 1 run
J Dyer 1 for 3, 1 sgl, 1 RBI
W Webb 2 for 3, 2 sgls, 2 RBIs
