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Bronaugh suffers tough loss from Blue Jays and are now 2-1
The Bronaugh Wildcats aren't necessarily known for their baseball talent, with the past couple of years barely scrubbing by those seasons. In fact, this year is the first time since the spring of 2014 that they have had more than one win in a single season. But they were hoping to ignore the past and try to go 3-0 and win against the Montrose Blue Jays Wednesday afternoon.
To start off the game, it was 2-0 with the Blue Jays on top after an error throw by Bronaugh let the Montrose players score. Bottom of the first was simple as the Blue Jays struck every batter out. In the top of the second, Montrose had the bases full after all being walked by Bronaugh and scored two runs, one from a walk by Bronaugh and the other by a hit that went all the way to left center field, making the score heading to the bottom of the second 3-0. Bronaugh responded in a way they didn’t want, by getting all three batters struck out again. The third inning was scoreless for both, but the Blue Jays had their biggest inning in the top of the fourth after scoring three runs making the new score 6-0 with the Blue Jays on top. Headed into the bottom half, Bronaugh finally had their first runner on base, but wasn’t able to score after another second base of the Blue Jays Caught a line drive with two out making it the three out.
Gavin Cox went to the mound at the top of the fifth, replacing Strauss Banes who was pitching beforehand. With two outs and bases loaded, Bronaugh got the final out they needed after the catcher dropped the pitch during the third strike, which in that case the Wildcats only needed to tag home base, which they did, and kept the score the same headed to the bottom. No. 6 Eli Griffith for the Wildcats hit a fly ball to center field and was able to get to second without any trouble, and later stole for third. Bronaugh was able to score their first run of the game when they were able to score a hit between first and second, and let the runner score home. The Blue Jays finally got the out making the score now 6-1. Montrose added five more to their score in the top of the sixth, making it 11-1 with the Blue Jays on top. Unfortunately, Bronaugh wasn’t able to do anything in the bottom of the sixth, and due to run rule, Montrose wreck Bronaughs undefeated win streak and makes them 2-1 in the year with a final score of 11-1.
Head Coach for the Bronaugh Wildcats Fred Lundien told Nevada Daily Mail, “These boys are still learning the game. We would have loved to battle it out in the seventh inning, but sometimes things don’t bounce your way. I think we need to get more consistent on first pitch strikes, but I liked the way our boys battled on defense. A lot of good things out number the mistakes that were made today which is always a good thing, and most important thing is we had fun.”
Although it was a tough loss, Coach Lundien had a lot more good things to say about Wednesday's game. “Eli had a great hit when he scored that run, which is fun to have something like that happen to us. We’ve only had two outdoor practices so far, but when we get in a game our boys seem to find a way to play great. I was impressed with how we played especially since this is the team who beat the Sheldon Panthers 47-0 (no typo). I think we will get there, it will just take some time.”
The Bronaugh Wildcats will travel to Sarcoxie to take on the 1-1 Sarcoxie Bears at 4:30 p.m. next Monday. Lundien told us what they will have to do to come out on top. “They have some good hitters. I coached one of the players before when I was at a different school, but they also have the majority of their players back from last year. I think it will be a competitive ball game if we just do what we need to do.”