The Dallas College Brookhaven Campus men’s baseball team played a close fought game but failed to complete the comeback against the Richland Thunderducks. The April 19 home game ended in a 7-6 loss for the Bears.
At the top of the first inning, Bears pitcher Noah Ferraro was on the mound with starting pitcher Slayde Berry out sick during the game. The Thunderducks were able to gain an early lead with a score from outfielder Jouseph Gelpi.
The Thunderducks had an opportunity with the bases loaded to set the tone for the game, but the Bears held the Thunderducks to only one run for the first inning. The Bears scored runs from infielders Isaiah Nava and Ray Jaramillo, along with outfielder Mason Gilliam. The inning ended with the Bears in the lead 3-1.
In the second inning, the Thunderducks rallied their efforts, scoring three runs of their own to take the lead. The Bears could not continue the momentum they had in the first inning and held without a run with the second inning ending. The Thunderducks led 4-3.
The Bears faced one more critical situation where the bases were loaded and made the necessary plays to ensure the Thunderducks could not score in the third inning.
“It’s very crucial as a pitcher, when the bases are loaded, you have to trust your catcher, your own pitches and get the outs,” pitcher Fabian Amador said after the game.
At the top of the fourth inning, the Thunderducks added one more run to the scoreboard with outfielder Trey Smith, who took a risk stealing home plate when the Bears caught an out ball. The Thunderducks could not continue as the fields switched sides. The Bears were unable to create chances ending the inning 5-3, Thunderducks in the lead.
Top of the sixth inning, the Bears made a change in pitcher with Amador coming into the game. Plays from first baseman Trace Chamblee and outfielder Seth Markham allowed the Thunderducks to load the bases once more. Chamblee ran to home plate to increase the Thunderducks’ score, but the Bears made a stand and held the Thunderducks to that sole run.
“Give credit to our pitchers, they have really been playing and throwing great as of late, especially getting out of big moments like that,” Shaquille Thomas, head baseball coach of the Bears, said after the game.
Gilliam made a play to reach second base. A hit from infielder Alex Rangel allowed Gilliam to reach home plate. The Bears, having players on third and second base, could not add more runs ending the inning. The Thunderducks led 6-4.
The Bears held strong against the Thunderducks in the top of the seventh inning, switching sides after three quick outs. Bears outfielder Caden Roeschen made two individual plays to make it to third base. After a hit from Gilliam, Roeschen ran to home plate and increased the Bears’ score to 6-5. The Bears could not continue to apply pressure, ending the inning with players on bases.
At the top of the eight inning, the Thunderducks took advantage of a few of the Bears’ mistakes, getting Chamblee to home plate and increasing their lead.
With the Bears in need of runs, they took advantage of some allowed walks from the Thunderducks and a mistake from the catcher to set up loaded bases. A hit from Jaramillo allowed for pitcher Brayden Haranda to score and for the rest of the runners to continue to home plate.
A controversial call from the umpire led to a third out for the Bears. The Bears’ coaching argued with the call on the field as the Thunderducks’ catcher was blocking the path to home plate for the Bears on Jaramillo’s hit. Catchers can only block the path if the catcher has possession of the ball.
“We had bases loaded,” Thomas said. “We were in a situation with two outs and the guy we had at second base, and I will take all credit on that for us because he personally should have been off the bag a lot more because there’s nobody holding them on at that point. And we had a bang-bang play there at home plate where the catcher was blocking home so our guy couldn’t really get there but I think we’d be out of that situation, and scored easy if our guy just did what he was supposed to do.”
The inning ended with the Thunderducks in the lead 7-6.
At the top of the ninth inning, the Bears held the Thunderducks to no runs. An opportunity for a comeback presented itself, but a few unlucky plays allowed the Thunderducks to catch three outs to end the game. The final score was 7-6.
“We just have to keep it simple at the play, it’s probably the hardest thing to do in sports.” Nava said. “Relaxing, having an approach at the plate and adjusting at bat will help the team find ways to score.”
The Bears played two games against the Thunderducks before this encounter: an away game on April 17 where they lost 4-3, and a home game on April 18, where they lost 8-2.
As of publication date, the Bears hold a 20-25 overall record and 11-13 conference record.
The Bears will play three games against Dallas College Mountain View on May 8, an away game for the Bears, with two more home games on May 10 and 11. These games against Dallas College Mountain View will close out the season for the Brookhaven Bears men’s baseball team.
