Lions to face Miles in bi-district baseball bout
By Sam Waller
The Albany Lions put the finishing touches on the District 8-2A baseball championship April 25 with a 10-0 victory against Cisco on senior night.
The Lions (17-2 overall, 9-1 district) open the playoffs with a bi-district series against the Miles Bulldogs, who finished in a three-way tie for second place in District 7-2A and then lost to Coleman on Tuesday night.
Games 1 and 2 will both be played on Friday, May 5 in Sweetwater, starting at 4:00 p.m. Game 3, if needed, will be played Saturday at the same location, but the time had not been determinted at press time.
Before their final home game, Albany seniors Cole Chapman, Coy Lefevre, Caden Price, and Keatin Russell were honored for their contributions to the program. Then they went out and made sure it was a successful night.
Chapman and Russell both drove in two runs, and the quartet combined to score five more as the Lions recorded their sixth run-rule victory in district. Albany was able to dominate despite the absence of leadoff hitter Cason Fairchild, who competed in the Class 2A state tennis tournament in San Antonio earlier in the day.
“The kids responded well, and I knew they would,” Lions coach David Fairchild said of being forced to juggle the lineup. “We finished the way we wanted to finish. Now we need to start a new season.”
Albany enters the postseason with a nine-game winning streak, averaging 12.1 runs per game since a 2-1 loss to Hawley in the district opener.
“I guess that was an eye-opener for us, and we kind of came to,” David Fairchild said.
Chapman also threw five strong innings, shutting out the Loboes on one hit with nine strikeouts. Cole Read worked the sixth inning, allowing a hit.
“It was a good outing for Cole,” the coach said.
Despite allowing baserunners in four innings, Chapman carried a no-hitter into the fifth before giving up a one out single. That was the only inning Cisco advanced a man beyond second base.
The Lions struck for two runs in the first and added three in both the second and fourth to pull away. Chapman finished 2 for 3 as the Lions totaled six hits, augmenting the production with 10 walks and a hit batter. Lefevre, Russell, Read, and Brody Oliver each had a hit.
In the first inning, Zane Waggoner scored on a double steal, and Read singled in a run. Chapman delivered a two-run triple and scored on Waggoner’s sacrifice fly.
Albany pushed the lead to 6-0 in the third when Calhan Fairchild reached on an error, allowing courtesy runner Will LeMay to score. In the fourth, Oliver singled in a run, and Russell added a two-run single.
Albany ended the game in the sixth when two walks and two wild pitches enabled Lefevre to score the final run.
Junior Varsity
The Albany junior varsity closed out its season with a 6-0 loss to Cisco following the varsity game.
The JV Lions finished with a 7-5 record, playing twice as many games as a year ago.
ALBANY 10, CISCO 0
SCORE BY INNING 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R/H/E
CISCO 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 0/2/2
ALBANY 2 3 1 3 0 1 x 10/6/0
atbat runs hits RBI
CChapman ss 3 1 2 2
TChapman 3b 4 0 0 0
Waggoner 1b 2 2 0 1
Lefevre 2b 1 2 1 0
Read p 3 0 1 1
Price cf 2 1 0 0
Oliver c 2 0 1 1
LeMay cr 0 2 0 0
Russell dh 2 1 1 2
Hill lf 0 0 0 0
ClFairchild rf 2 1 0 0
Totals 21 10 6 7
3B – CChapman. HBP – ClFairchild. SF – Waggoner. SB – Waggoner. Lefevre 2, ClFairchild. CS – CChapman, Read.
IP H R ER BB SO
CChapman 5 1 0 0 3 9
Read 1 1 0 0 0 1
WP – CChapman 2. PB – Oliver.
