Thursday, April 18, 2024
GOT IT Granbury’s Matthew Walters chases down a fly ball in the outfield.
SCORING RUNS Wichita Rider’s second run is at home plate and the third slides safely into third on a Pirate error.
PITCH COUNT Granbury pitcher Tyler Sudderth kept Wichita Falls batters in check for three innings.
HITTING A GROUNDER Granbury’s Garret Jones makes contact with the ball for a base hit.
CONFERENCE ON THE MOUND Granbury head coach Brad Eppler visits with pitcher Tyler Sudderth and catcher Cooper Thomas in the third inning.
TAKING CONTROL Granbury pitcher Ryan Felton on the mound against Wichita Falls Rider. The Granbury High School Pirates opened district play against Wichita Falls Rider High School at Tidwell Field in Granbury Tuesday night, March 23, 2021. Wichita Rider won 3-2.
HOT CORNER Granbury’s Garret Jones slides into third. Jones scored the Pirates’ second run.
INFIELD WALTZ Granbury shortstop Brock Mueller keeping an eye on a base runner.
LEADOFF HURLER Granbury pitcher Tyler Sudderth started the game for the pirates. Sudderth lasted three innings on the mound for the Pirates.
It wasn’t supposed to happen this way.
The high-flying Granbury Pirate baseball team, ranked No. 2 in the area, was counting on a district-opening win at home against Wichita Falls Rider.
Then follow that with a win at Rider to set the stage for an early showdown with co-district favorite Aledo.
Rider, however, had a different idea.
The Raiders (7-8-1) rode the arm of Brennen Campbell on the mound to overtake the listless Pirates 3-2 Tuesday night at Tidwell Field.
“They were ready to play … we were not,” Pirate head coach Brad Eppler said. “We have to compete more effectively. We didn’t have a whole lot of compete.”
Rider head coach Jeremy Crouch said his team was aware of the Pirates’ hot start this season. (They were 13-3 coming into the game.)
“We knew that we had to play well coming in and play really good defense and pitch well,” Crouch said. “Brennen Campbell tonight on the mound was awesome. Offensively we did enough early on to get a lead and held on at the end.”
All of the scoring came in the first three innings.
The Pirates scored first when Brock Mueller singled home Matthew Walters, but the Raiders answered on a sacrifice fly to tie the game 1-1. Rider scored two runs in the top of the third to pull ahead 3-1. Pirate third baseman Cameron Collins snagged a hard-hit grounder down the line and threw out the runner to help stop the bleeding.
Facing two outs in the bottom of the third, Walters singled up the middle and stole second. Mueller then singled on a fly ball to shallow left that scored Walters to pull the Pirates within 3-2. However, the rally ended, and the Pirates were shut out the rest of the way.
Pirate starting pitcher Tyler Sudderth allowed only four hits, but the team had two costly errors. Campbell allowed five hits and struck out eight.
Other Granbury hitters were Garret Jones and Ryan Felton.
The Pirates travel to Aledo on Tuesday before hosting them on Friday.
Rider 012 000 0 3 5 1
Granbury 101 000 0 2 6 2
