Close ballgames seemed to be opened up by the home run on Friday in Blanchard during the regional baseball tournament. Pretty simple, home runs equal quick scores. One swing of the bat is all it takes. Madill had its share of home runs Friday, but not enough base runners to produce victories. The Wildcats lost 11-7 to Newcastle after falling to 9-5 to Blanchard. Those losses ended the 2013 baseball campaign. In game one, Joe Avery's RBI single to right field scored Paten Bond and the 'Cats owned a 2-1 edge over Blanchard in the second inning. That was after senior Hunter Chapa had taken the first pitch of the game deep to center to put Madill up 1-0. However, the home runs began appearing for the Lions. The host team connected for three taters in one inning to lead 6-2. It was 7-2 in the third inning when Madill senior Gage Goff hit his homer to left to make it 7-3. Each team was held scoreless in the fourth inning. Lion outfielder Braden Stringer sent one deep in the fifth for Blanchard to stretch the lead to 8-3. Madill gained back a run in the fifth to make the score 8-4. Blanchard led 9-4 before Samuel Bond connected for his eighth home run of the season to close the gap to 9-5 before the contest ended. In a must-win situation against Newcastle, the Racers struck first with a 3-run home run to left for a 3-0 in the top of the opening frame. However, Samuel Bond nailed his ninth homer of the season in the bottom of the first to make the score 3-1. Paten Bond sent one over the wall in left later in the first to give Madill back a 4-3 advantage. Tied 4-4 in the bottom of the third, the Wildcats plated two runs to regain the 6-4 lead. The Racers scored three runs in the fifth to take back a 7-6 edge. Another run came in for the Racers in the sixth inning. Samuel Bond gave way to reliever Jonathan Sutherland. Newcastle added another run for a 9-6 advantage. They added two more runs in the top of the seventh inning to hold an 11-6 cushion heading into the bottom of the last frame. Madill finished the season with an overall 19-10 season mark. They won the district championship in a sweep of Lone Grove April 25. |