Bitter end to promising Pirates season

A pair of one-run losses to Mansfield Timberview closed out Granbury High School’s 2021 baseball season late last week, but the way it ended had a bitter taste for the Pirates.

They knew that the two tight contests could have gone their way, if not for few mistakes and missed chances.

The Pirates saw a 7-3 lead after three innings shrink to 7-4 in the fifth inning before the Wolves force the game into extra innings when they tied it at 7-all with three in the sixth. Timberview won it in the eighth on a walk-off RBI double.

Friday’s Game 2, at Granbury High School’s Tidwell Field, remained tight from start to finish, with the Wolves taking a 1-0 lead in the second inning on an infield error before the Pirates tied it, 1-1, in the bottom of the fourth. Timberview pushed home the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh on a seeing-eye bunt that went for an infield hit just past the pitcher.

The Pirates committed two errors in each game, and even out-hit the Wolves both nights — by a hefty 12-6 margin Thursday, and 3-2 Friday.

Taylor Calcote turned in another fine pitching performance for the Pirates, but the Wichita State University signee suffered his first loss of the season to finish at 5-1. He struck out 11 and allowed only two hits. But Timberview’s ace pitcher, Kevin Schoneboom, went the distance and struck out 10 Pirates, while giving up only three hits.

“It was a tough way to lose,” said Brad Eppler, who has been the Pirates’ head coach since 2014. “I have a lot of respect for them, but they were able to win by us beating ourselves. We’re not going to play baseball next week, and it’s our fault.”

Senior Cameron Collins, a second baseman and pitcher for the Pirates, had a similar train of thought after the series, saying” It was all a mental game,” but added, “It could have gone either way.”

GHS senior outfielder Cordel Gibson said after the game, “This team was family, through and through. This was the closest group I’ve ever had. We had our ups and downs. We weren’t willing to give up on each other.”

Senior Ryan Felton, who was the starting pitcher for GHS in Game 1 of the series Thursday in Mansfield, said that the senior group was brought together through their baseball experiences over the past four years, and it became “a very family-like relationship. The guys who will be here next year, they’re blessed. I hope they know time is a very special thing, because it will end. But they will be good.”

The family mentality remains in place even after a loss, the coach said.

“That’s an every year thing,” Eppler said. “We get to know each other. When we lose, we still love and respect one another.” 

GAME 1

The Pirates struck first in the top of the first inning after Cordel Gibson and Matthew Walters singled. Brock Mueller drove in the first run with a groundout, and Collins had a run-scoring single to make it 2-0.

Granbury’s three-run second inning featured a two-run triple by Walters and an RBI single by Mueller.

In the two-run third for the Pirates, Calcote walked, Garett Jones singled, and Ryan Felton’s double to center field drove in both runners.  

Felton pitched the first five innings, giving up four runs on five hits, while striking out five and walking one. Tyler Sudderth took the loss in relief, working one-third of an inning. He did not allow a hit, but gave up three runs, walking one, hitting two batters, and striking out one. Cameron Collins gave up one hit and one run, striking out three and walking three, in 2-1/3 innings for GHS.

GAME 2

Brock Mueller’s one-out single started the action for Granbury in the bottom of the fourth. Cameron Collins reached on an infield error, and Taylor Calcote drew a walk to load the bases. Tyler Sudderth then walked to drive in the Pirates’ first run, knotting the score at 1-1.

Collins singled to right field with one out in the sixth inning and Calcote reached on an error. But Schoneboom got out of the jam with a strikeout and a groundout.

With one out in the top of the seventh, the Wolves drew back-to-back walks, and the runners moved up to second and third on a wild pitch. The next hitter pushed a bunt to the right side, just past Calcote’s reach, bringing in the deciding run.

Collins then came on in relief, striking out one and walking one without allowing a hit.

DEPTH

After seeing their 2020 season wiped out by COVID-19, this season the Pirates put together a 23-9 season record as the fourth-place team out of District 5-5A. That ranks as the third-most victories in a season for Granbury baseball, Eppler noted. The Pirates’ best win total came in 2016, with 25, followed by their 24 wins in 2015.

Eppler said that a key to this year’s success was team depth — having so many different highly capable players — without having “one person who carries us.”

That depth especially made an impact with Granbury’s pitching staff.

And, as Eppler noted, the team used “we” and “us” rather than “I” and “me.”

Although Eppler tends to follow that trend when it comes to himself, one event he went through can’t be ignored.

COACH’S CHALLENGE

As was previously reported, Eppler was diagnosed in 2018 with follicular lymphoma, a non-Hodgkin’s type of cancer involving the lymph nodes. After he had his first round of chemotherapy in 2019, which he said was “a little rough,” he eventually had a bone-marrow transplant at UT-Southwestern in Dallas. He was instructed to remain “sequestered” for six months while recovering, but instead chose to return to work after only 21 days, last August.

Eppler’s doctors evaluated his condition and told him that there was “no evidence of the disease.”

Eppler noted that next week he will be going to another follow-up to his doctor. Although he will have to wait to see if he gets good news once again, he said that the threat that the disease could return is “something I will probably have to endure in my lifetime.”   

SENIORS

The Pirates are losing eight seniors to graduation — Brock Mueller, Shaden Medlin, Trevor St. Don, Cordel Gibson, Cameron Collins, Taylor Calcote, Josh Reed and Ryan Felton.

“Our seniors didn’t want to finish their high school career that way,” Eppler said. “This is a good group. They are all very good kids. They are all very high achievers in the classroom. The biggest thing is, they are really solid citizens.”

In addition to Calcote having signed to play in college, Mueller (UT-Dallas), Collins (Frank Phillips College) and Gibson (Lyon College) are also making the leap to the next level.