Seeking their first District 6-4A baseball sweep of the season, the Brownwood Lions were denied Friday night at Morris Southall Field as they suffered an 8-1 loss at the hands of the league runner-up Mineral Wells Rams.
Despite the defeat, the Lions (12-16, 4-6) secured fourth place in the final District 6-4A standings and will head into the 4A Division I portion of the playoffs as the league’s No. 2 seed.
“The kids are really scrappy and they earned this right,” said Lions head coach Blake Sandford of the postseason berth. “You win some in baseball and you lose some in baseball, that’s just a part of it. But if you sit there in life and define yourself with either a win or a loss I think that’s selling yourself short. These guys have a lot more to offer, not just with this season, but in life in general as husbands and dads. That’s how you truly measure where our success ultimately is.”
Mineral Wells (15-10-1, 7-3) pitcher and Texas Tech commit Holden Hering limited the Lions to one hit over five innings, and Brownwood finished with just four hits on the night while striking out 13 times.
Meanwhile, the Brownwood pitching combination of Noah Gonzalez, Logan Flores and Daylyn Ansons surrendered a combined 10 hits – including a two-run home run as part of a four-run sixth that put the game out of reach – with nine walks, three hit batters and 10 strikeouts.
Wyatt Wolf broke up the no-hit bid in the fifth inning and recorded two singles with the Lions’ lone RBI, while Robbie Robinson and Antonio Ybarra also contributed base hits. Jack Field, who reached on a fielder’s choice and stole second base in the bottom of the sixth inning, scored Brownwood’s run on a Wolf single up the middle.
The Lions will face either Lubbock Estacado or San Angelo Lake View out of District 5 in the opening round of the playoffs, as the two teams square off Saturday in a game that will determine the league’s top playoff seed for 4A Division I.
Regarding the keys to a lengthy postseason run for the Lions, Sandford said, “We have to pitch it well, hit it well, and field it well. We have to be dialed in and solid and not have many mistakes. If we can do that and have great at-bats, we’ll be just fine.”
