Lions control semifinals to advance
By Sam Waller
The Albany Lions are back in the regional finals of the Class 2A baseball playoffs after sweeping the Clarendon Broncos in the regional semifinals at Lubbock Christian University’s Hays Field.
The Lions won the series opener 11-4 on Thursday, May 26, then completed their fourth sweep of the playoffs with a 16-3 victory in six innings on Saturday, May 28.
“It started with great pitching,” Lions coach David Fairchild said. “Cole Chapman and Cole Read did a great job on the mound, executing their pitches and hitting their spots. They had great command and were in control in both games.”
Albany (21-4) will play fourth-ranked New Home (31-3) in the regional final series at Snyder’s Moffett Field. Game 1 is set for 6:00 p.m. Thursday, June 2 (tonight), with Game 2 at 1:00 p.m. Friday, June 3. Game 3, if necessary, will start 30 minutes following the conclusion of Game 2.
“New Home’s got a solid bunch of guys,” Fairchild said. “They hit the ball real well, are very good offensively, and swing the bat well one through nine.”
Albany is in the regional finals for the first time since 2019, when the Lions advanced to their second state tournament. New Home advanced by beating third-ranked Anson in three games in the regional semifinals.
Chapman pitched 6.2 innings in Game 1 against Clarendon, allowing one earned run on three hits and a walk while striking out six. Cooper Fairchild needed just four pitches to record the final out.
Read went the distance in Game 2, giving up three runs on seven hits. He also had six strikeouts and a walk.
The Lions were productive offensively, totaling 27 hits in the series. Cooper Fairchild was a combined 5 for 10 with a double, Zane Waggoner was 4 for 7 with two doubles and a grand slam, Chapman was 4 for 8 with a triple, Luke Ivy was 4 for 5, Read was 3 for 5 with two doubles, and Cason Fairchild was 3 for 8.
“Our bats came alive,” David Fairchild said. “We did a great job offensively.”
The defense also performed well.
“Cooper Fairchild had several nice plays and putouts in the outfield, Coy Lefevre had some nice plays, and Bryson Herring had several great blocks behind the plate,” David Fairchild said. “Clarendon hit the ball well and had a lot of balls run down. The outfield did a good job.”
Herring threw out two baserunners in Game 2, including the final out of the series.
In Game 1, Read drove in five runs as Albany scored 10 runs in its last two at bats. Lefevre, Cooper Fairchild, Waggoner, and Chapman – the top four in the order – Read, and Ivy each had two hits. Lefevre and Chapman each had two RBIs.
The Lions led 1-0 on Lefevre’s two-out RBI single in the second. Chapman made that hold up, retiring the first 10 batters he faced and picking off Clarendon’s first baserunner before running into trouble in the fifth.
Clarendon took advantage of an error and got all three of its hits in the fifth to go up 4-1, but the Lions responded with four runs in the bottom of the inning to reclaim the lead.
“We’ve done it all year long,” David Fairchild said of the comeback. “Nobody’s panicked yet. The team stayed focused and found a way to bounce back.”
With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Read doubled with the bases loaded to tie the game and Ivy singled in the go-ahead run.
In the sixth, Chapman tripled in two runs and scored on an error, Read doubled in two more and Lefevre added another RBI single.
In Game 2, the Lions got off to a faster start, building a 7-0 lead in the third. Waggoner drove in six runs, while Ivy and Chapman each had three RBIs. Cooper Fairchild was 3 for 5 with Waggoner, Cole Chapman, Cason Fairchild, Caden Price, and Ivy each getting two hits.
The Lions needed just three batters to take the lead with Cooper Fairchild doubling and scoring on Waggoner’s sacrifice fly in the first. In the second, Ivy singled in a run and Cooper Fairchild added a two-run single to make it 4-0. Ivy then drove in two runs in the third and Tyler Chapman followed with his first RBI.
In the fourth, Albany pushed the lead to 11-1 as Waggoner doubled in a run, Cason Fairchild had an RBI single, Tyler Chapman was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, and courtesy runner Keatin Russell scored on a wild pitch.
The Lions put the game away in the sixth as Tyler Chapman hit a sacrifice fly and Waggoner connected with the bases loaded for his fifth home run of the season.
REGIONAL SEMIFINAL
GAME 1
ALBANY 11, CLARENDON 4
SCORE BY INNING 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R/H/E
CLARENDON 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 4/3/1
ALBANY 0 1 0 0 4 6 x 11/13/2
atbat runs hits RBI
Lefevre 2b 5 0 2 2
CoFairchild p 5 1 2 0
Waggoner 1b 3 2 2 0
CChapman ss 4 1 2 2
CaFairchild cf 4 2 1 1
Price rf 1 2 0 0
Read 3b 4 2 2 5
Ivy lf 3 1 2 1
TChapman dh 2 0 0 0
Totals 31 11 13 11
2B – Waggoner, Read 2. 3B – CChapman. HBP – Waggoner, Ivy. SB – Lefevre, CChapman, Ivy.
IP H R ER BB SO
CChapman 6.2 3 4 1 1 6
CoFairchild 0.1 0 0 0 0 0
HBP – CChapman.
GAME 2
ALBANY 16, CLARENDON 3
SCORE BY INNING 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R/H/E
ALBANY 1 3 3 4 0 5 x 16/14/1
CLARENDON 0 0 1 1 0 1 x 3/7/3
atbat runs hits RBI
Lefevre 2b 4 1 0 0
CoFairchild cf 5 2 3 2
Waggoner 1b 4 2 2 6
CChapman ss 4 1 2 0
CaFairchild 3b 4 2 2 1
Price rf 5 2 2 0
Read p 1 1 1 0
Russell cr 0 2 0 0
Ivy lf 2 1 2 3
Hill lf 0 2 0 0
TChapman dh 2 0 0 3
Totals 31 16 14 15
2B – CoFairchild, Waggoner. HR – Waggoner. HBP – Read, Hill 2, TChapman. SF – Waggoner, TChapman. SB – CChapman 3, CaFairchild 2, Price, Russell, Ivy, Hill.
IP H R ER BB SO
Read 6 7 3 3 1 6
