By Nolan Ruth
X – @RealNolanRuth
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ROUND ROCK— School ending and the turn of the calendar to the month of June means one thing in Texas: Baseball state championships. Over the course of three days, 22 teams meet at one ballpark just north of the state’s capitol for their chance at baseball immortality.
The Brock Eagles are no stranger to the stage, having made appearances at Dell Diamond five out of the last six years. Unfortunately, it has not been a friendly environment. Since the program’s only title in 2006, the Eagles have yet to return with the gold trophy.
That trend continued on Friday afternoon when the Eagles fell 3-1 at the hands of the Robinson Rockets.
Despite starting pitcher Weston Pickard not allowing a single hit through four innings, hit batters and defensive struggles plagued Brock from the start.
The first pitch of the game hit Rocket third baseman Cash Cleere. A sacrifice bunt then moved Cleere to second but a throwing error resulted in both runners advancing into scoring position. They scored two batters later on a fielder’s choice to take a 1-0 lead.
The Eagles worked a pair of two out rallies in the first and third innings, but nothing came of the opportunities.
It was in the fourth inning that Brock finally found offensive momentum. Asher Straid led off with a single into left field. Then came the madness.
Weston Pickard doubled sharply down the left field line, and the throw got away from the fielder, ending up in the seats. That allowed Strait to score the tying run, and advanced Pickard to third. With TJ Allred in as a courtesy runner, Colton Ripple grounded to second base. Allred broke for the plate and was thrown out for the second out. Then Hunter Martin legged out an infield single to the shortstop, but Ripple tried to advance an extra base and was thrown out to end both the inning, and Brock’s offensive momentum.
Two innings later, the Rockets ended the no-hit bid and took the lead for good. After Coltin Turnbo’s leadoff walk, Cleere bunted down the first baseline, and avoided the tag for a single, advancing Turnbo to second. A sacrifice then advanced both runners before Caden Coe ripped a sharp single right up the middle to score both runners.
The play earned Coe MVP honors despite striking out in his previous two at-bats. The one hit ended up being the deciding factor of the game.
Brock could not get anything going in the sixth, and just before the seventh faced a lightning delay. The pause in the action allowed the Eagles to muster something up, as two singles put the tying run on base, and a walk loaded the bases. However, it was not to be as an infield popup fell into the glove of the second baseman, as if to close the curtain on Brock’s season.
The Eagles finished out the year with an impressive record of 32-7 after another trip down I-35, and another trophy for the case, though not the color they would have wanted.
