Yoe drops heartbreaker to Rogers, clinches #2 in 20-3A

A standing room only crowd from the baseball rich communities of Cameron and Rogers packed The Yards of Cameron on Thursday in a game where the 20-3A district championship was on the line.  

Not to come as a surprise, the teams needed 11 innings with the Eagles narrowly edging out Cameron for the second time this season, 5-4.  

"We played a lot of tough games this year," said Yoe head coach John Broussard.  "We have been in situations with our backs against the wall and our guys are tough and they fight.  It didn't end up in our favor tonight, but it was a great ball game.  There is no reason to hold our heads after this game."

Rogers (18-3-1/10-0), who won the first matchup 4-2, scored 2 runs in the second and third innings, before being held scoreless all the way up until the eventual game-winning run in the 11th.  

With one out, back-to-back-to-back singles by Ryan Raynor, Tyler Carpenter and TyTamplen loaded up the bases in the final inning.  Heath Schiller then drew a bases loaded walk to push across the run. 

"Whenever these two towns get together, it is going to be a good ball game," said Rogers head coach Keith Klaus.  "They have a great team and both teams like to fight.  We feel pretty fortunate to come on the road and get a win.  We have three games left, so we have to take care of business."

In a game where it seem like every played was amplified, both pitching staffs kept their teams in the game.  

Llanas went 10 innings, giving up the four early runs before settling into a groove.  "He did awesome," said Broussard.  "He is a strike thrower and that is what kept him in the game with the pitch count.  He reached his limit in the 10th, but did an outstanding job.  That game lived up to the hype and they are a good ball club."

Likewise, Garrett Kennedy (5.2 innings) and Ethan Pierce (5.1 innings) teamed up to hold Cameron to just six hits while striking out 17 batters on the night. 

"He has not been feeling well this week and had to battle through that tonight," said Klaus on the starter Kennedy.  "He is a competitor, so sick or not, he is going to go after it.  Ethan always looks for me to pull for him, and when I make the call I know what I'm going to get.  He is probably one of the best pitchers around with one or two wins and about six saves."

In the top of the second, a Raynor single, Carpenter triple and Tamplen single gave Rogers an 2-0 lead. 

In the bottom half of the inning, the Yoemen took advantage of two rare walks to begin things.  Harris would eventually work his way around the bases and score on a wild pitch to bring things to 2-1. 

A James Flores single and Raynor fielder's choice in the fourth bumped the advantage up to 4-1.  Bryce Welsh grounded into a double play with the bases loaded in the same inning, but a run scored to cut it to 4-2.  

In the sixth, Cameron had nobody on and two outs when Bryce Brashear walked and Ty Moore doubled to right center, scoring one run.  Keaton Hundle proceeded to strike out, but the ball could not be handled by the catcher, allowing for Hundle to make it safely to first. 

Hundle continued to run to second on the play, and the throw down was late, allowing Moore to break from third and beat the throw back to home plate to tie things.  A throw from the catcher to third sailed into right field, but the potential game-winning run was thrown out at home plate.  

In extra innings, Pierce stuck out 10 Yoe batters and gave up only one lone single with two outs in the 11th.  

Llanas went 10 innings, giving up 8 hits and 4 runs while striking out 4.  Kennedy tossed 5.2 innings, giving up 4 hits and 3 runs.  Reliever Pierce struck out 11 and gave up only 2 hits in his 5.1 innings. Brasher came in to pitch the 11th for the Yoemen.  

20-3A Standings: 1. Rogers (10-0), 2. Cameron Yoe (8-2), 3. Franklin (5-5), 4. Academy (4-5), 5. Lexington (3-6), 6. Rockdale (2-7), 7. Jarrell (1-8).  Cameron will be the number two seed out of 20-3A.  

Both the baseball and softball games scheduled for Tuesday with Rockdale were pushed back to Wednesday due to weather.  We will have a full report on those games in next week's edition of sports.