By Andres Reyes
Sports Editor
In a doubleheader against the Texas Wesleyan University Rams April 20, the Brookhaven College Bears baseball team prevailed in both home games, with winning scores of 4-3 and 2-1. As the score seesawed back and forth in the first game, the Bears patiently overcame the Rams as they fought to get back in the game.
Justin Haros pitched the first game for the Bears and started off with two scoreless innings under his belt. Haros ended with six strikeouts. His favorite pitch is “definitely my curveball,” Haros said. “I believe I threw only 85 pitches.”
During the bottom of the second inning, first baseman Trevor Ahin got things going for the Bears. Ahin popped a ball out to left field to get on second base. On the next play, right fielder Jonathan Bigley hit a single, allowing Ahin to move to third base. Third baseman Lance Brooks then hit to centerfield, which allowed Ahin to score, but Brooks was ruled out before he could get on base, which ended the inning.
Brookhaven led 1-0. Ahin finished with one run and one hit, Bigley had one run and two hits, and Brooks ended the game with one RBI.
In the third inning, the Rams had the bases loaded and were poised to attack the Bears. Two runners scored for the Rams and two stayed on base, but the Bears put an end to it when they came together defensively.
Left fielder Alec Kana was up to bat for the Bears and hit a single, putting him on first base and setting up catcher Jason Nicholson for the next at bat.
Nicholson proceeded to bunt, causing enough commotion to allow Kana to reach second base. A laserlike throw from the Rams pitcher bobbled off of the Rams catcher and gave Kana enough time to steal third base.
It was first baseman Kaleb Warden’s turn at bat, and he made it count, hitting a double that left him on second base and getting an RBI. Kana went in for the score as well, leaving the game even at 2-2. Kana finished the game with one run and two hits. Nicholson had one run, and Warden left the game with one hit and one RBI.
A series of events in the fourth inning had the Rams’ confidence sky-high. A bobble by the Bears and a bunt by the Rams left their runner at home plate, giving them the precious lead for a brief moment. The Rams led 3-2. Another bunt and yet another mishandled pitch left a runner on third for the Rams, but Haros kept his composure and threw a strikeout, crushing any hopes the Rams had of gaining a comfortable lead.
“It was tough to get into a little bit of a rhythm, but that’s how baseball will go sometimes,” Bears head coach Brandon Rains said. “Justin Haros threw really well. He’s been throwing really well for us all year. He’s settling into his own, and we’re going to have to have him in the playoffs.”
Bigley was next up to bat in the bottom of the fourth inning. He hit a ball into the middle of an ocean of empty space unmarked by the Rams. Bigley took off and reached second base as the Bears prepared to take back the lead. Cole Wessling, Brookhaven’s left fielder, got another double off the bat, and Bigley ran in for the tying run. Wessling finished with two hits and one RBI.
The Bears dominated the next three innings as the Rams did not control the ball for long. The Rams’ offense was unable to get any flow going due to strikeouts and easily caught fly balls.
The Bears took the game-winning run in the bottom of the fifth. A missed catch by the Rams gave the green light for Nicholson to steal third base. The umpire rewarded his incredible hustle by ruling him safe. Nicholson eventually ran home for the game-winning run off Warden’s hit, which gave him an RBI.
The Bears won the game 4-3 and won the second as well, with a score of 2-1 against Texas Wesleyan University.
