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Albany to face Hamilton in quarterfinals

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By Sam Waller

The Albany Lions were looking at elimination from the Class 2A baseball playoffs and didn’t like what they saw.

The Lions (21-3) rallied to defeat the Eldorado Eagles in three games to win their area series and advance to the regional quarterfinals against Hamilton, which defeated Colorado City 10-0 in a one-game playoff.

The third-round series will be played Friday-Saturday, May 19-20, at Weatherford High School. Game 1 will start at 6:00 p.m. Friday with Game 2 at noon Saturday. Game 3, if necessary, will start 30 minutes following the conclusion of Game 2.

Weatherford High School is located off I20 on the west side of Weatherford. Take Exit 407.

In the area series, played Thursday-Friday, May 11-12 at Liberty Hill, the Lions bounced back from a 10-6 loss in the opener to win the next two games 9-5 and 11-0 to advance.

“I think we came out a little bit more focused,” Lions coach David Fairchild said of the final two games. “We were on a mission Friday. Our bats came alive, and we had a lot of energy.”

After falling behind 10-1 in Game 1, Albany outscored Eldorado 25-5 the rest of the series. The Game 1 loss snapped Albany’s 11-game winning streak.

Cole Read came through with solid pitching performances both days, coming on in the sixth inning of Game 2 with the bases loaded and the Lions trying to protect a 7-5 lead to get the final four outs for the save. The junior then pitched a three-hit shutout in the clincher, which ended with a seven-run inning capped by Cason Fairchild’s bases-loaded double to invoke the run rule.

Read worked a total of 6.1 shutout innings, striking out 13 while walking five.

“Cole did a good job of closing out Game 2 and in Game 3 was on spot with all of his pitches,” David Fairchild said. “He was in control, and he worked fast.”

Tyler Chapman led Albany at the plate, finishing the series 6 for 11 with five RBIs, hitting a home run, triple, and double.

Cason Fairchild, who ran the lead leg on Albany’s 1600 relay at the state track meet later on Friday, was 5 for 11 with four RBIs, delivering three doubles and a sacrifice fly in addition to stealing three bases.

Coy Lefevre (5 for 11) and Caden Price (4 for 9) each had four RBIs. Le­fevre had a triple and stole three bases. Cason Fairchild, Cole Chapman (4 for 12, three RBIs), Tyler Chapman, and Lefevre all had at least one hit in every game of the series.

Albany got off to a good start in the series opener with Tyler Chapman working a clean inning and driving in Cason Fairchild with the game’s first run in the bottom of the first.

Then things got ugly.

The Eagles sent 14 batters to the plate during a nine-run second, collecting five of their eight hits for the game. Tyler Chapman was lifted for Price with the Lions trailing 6-1.

“In the first two games, we had 12 walks, five hit batters, and two third-strike wild pitches,” David Fairchild said. “We gave them 19 free bases.”

Eldorado added a run in the fourth to lead 10-1 before Albany started turning things around. Price, making his first appearance on the mound since March 9, allowed two runs over 5.2 innings, striking out seven.

The Lions scored the last five runs of the game and had the tying run on deck when it ended.

Zane Waggoner started a comeback bid with a two-run homer, and Read doubled in a run. Tyler Chapman homered in the fifth.

In the seventh, Price escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam, and Cole Chapman singled in a run in the bottom of the inning before the comeback stalled.

Playing as the visiting team in Game 2, Albany jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first and held on as Eldorado got within a run.

Cole Chapman worked 5.2 innings for the win. He was charged with two earned runs on four hits with five walks and four strikeouts.

Cason Fairchild and Cole Chapman started the game with back-to-back doubles as the Lions took the lead after just eight pitches. With bases loaded, Lefevre singled in one run, and Price drove in two before Keatin Russell hit a sacrifice fly. Read’s RBI single in the second gave Albany a 6-2 lead, but Eldorado closed to 6-5 in the fifth.

Lefevre tripled in a run in the sixth, but Eldorado loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning. Read struck out the first batter he faced to end the threat.

Albany started the seventh with three consecutive singles. Cason Fairchild hit a sacrifice fly, and Tyler Chapman singled in a run for the final margin.

Even at that, the situation remained tense as Read issued a pair of walks to start the bottom of the seventh before striking out three in a row to even the series.

On Friday, the Lions again jumped out quickly with four runs in the first. Albany needed just six pitches to take the lead as Cason Fairchild reached on an error and Cole Chapman followed with an RBI single. With one out, Tyler Chapman tripled and Le­fevre singled to make it 3-0. Lefevre then stole third and scored.

Read made the lead hold up through the fifth, allowing six men to reach.  He gave up two hits in the fourth, but catcher Brody Oliver gunned down the first attempting to steal to keep the Eagles from creating a serious threat.

Entering the bottom of the fifth, Read was at 106 pitches for the series and would probably have been replaced for the sixth. David Fairchild was faced with either bringing back Tyler Chapman, who threw 42 pitches in Game 1, or going with someone else. Cason Fairchild, who last took the mound on March 11, was the only other player available who has pitched in a varsity game this season.

The Lions rendered the point moot by batting around to end it.

Tyler Chapman started the series-clinching rally with an RBI single and Price singled in two runs to make it 7-0. After Read, who walked, scored on a passed ball, Calhan Fairchild walked to load the bases. Cason Fairchild ended it with a line drive to left on the next pitch.