Yoe finishes first half of 20-3A at 5-1

The best way to end a winning streak is to begin another one. That is what exactly the Yoemen did this past week by picking up two consecutive wins over Rockdale (7-2) and Academy (8-0) to move to 5-1 in 20-3A play. Cameron has now won 13 out of their last 15 games overall with one tie in the mix.

Rockdale

Cameron used a complete effort in all three phases of the game in a 7-2 victory over Milam County rival Rockdale on Friday night from The Yards of Cameron.

The win improved Cameron to 4-1 in 20-3A and 13-4-1 overall while Rockdale dropped to 6-7-1 and 0-4.

“It's always big to get a district win whenever you can get it,” said Yoemen head coach John Broussard. “I thought our team rebounded well after a good game with Rogers that we fell short on. I thought we came out and had some good at-bats for the most part and generated some runs early.”

Jordan Young kept Rockdale off the board in the second with a full out extension diving catch in right field. The Yoemen scored two runs in the bottom half of the inning and never looked back.

“I just saw it coming hard off the bat, and I knew it was going to be in the gap and I couldn't let the guy score from second and had to make a play,” said Young. “It was early in the game and I laid out to make a play. Defense wins championships, so we have to make every play count. It they don't score, you can't lose the game.”

Rockdale did eventually score, but not until the game was 7-0. The bottom of the order came up big for Cameron, as Ty Moore and Brandon Wilkins, the eight and nine hole hitters, each had two RBIs apiece.

Starting pitcher Zack Andress went the distance, giving up 4 hits, 1 earned run, 2 base on balls and struck out four.

Academy

Cameron put up another all-round complete performance in a 8-0 shutout win over the Academy Bees on Tuesday night at home. The Yoemen pounded out nine hits, got a dominant pitching performance, and played nearly perfect defense to improve to 5-1 in 20-3A.

Starting pitcher Jason Llanas was the epitome of efficient in his start, going all 7 innings, scattering four hits, striking out 5 while throwing only 83 pitches.

“I think Llanas did an outstanding job tonight,” said Broussard. “He was filling the zone up early and when we do that we put hitters in a bad spot. He was able to locate three pitches tonight and our defense played great behind him.”

Part of that great defense came from second baseman Bryce Welsh, who made a diving grab for a ball in the first inning. Welsh, who has recently returned to the lineup from injury, was also 3-4 from the plate with a pair of RBIs.

“It has been hard to sit back and just watch, but they have been taking care of business and winning district games,” said Welsh. “We’re a good team and we came out firing tonight.”

Cameron did most of their damage in the second inning, with six runs off of Academy starting pitcher Bryson Lawhorn. Welsh began the inning with a hustle double to left-center. A single by Bryce Brashear and walk by Ty Moore loaded the bases with nobody out. A couple of ground balls on the infield by Alex Alonso and Brandon Wilkins could not be handled, giving Cameron a 2-0 lead. A Zack Andress fielder’s choice ground out, Llanas single and Caden Harris double down the right field line finished off the scoring.

Keaton Hundle pinch hit in the 6th, and drove in Llanas with a double to the wall. Welsh then hit a ball in between the second baseman and right fielder for the final run.

Llanas, who said after the game that his goal was to get pop fly’s and ground balls, finished off the game in the top half of the 7th.

“If we keep playing like that, we should be district champs,” said Welsh on the win. “We worked a lot in practice with two-strike approaches and our hitting really improved overall. Everyone had a good night.”

20-3A baseball standings: 1. Rogers (5-0), 2. Cameron Yoe (5-1), 3. Academy (3-2), 3. Franklin (3-2), 4. Lexington (2-3), 5. Rockdale (0-5), 5. Jarrell (0-5).

Cameron will be off this Friday and will return to action at Jarrell on Tuesday.