A first inning triple play helped settle down Johnson City’s Laramie
Blackwell, and his one-hitter helped the Eagles to a 9-3 victory over
the Shiner Comanches Thursday night at North East Stadium.
The Eagles are ranked sixth in the state in Class 1A by the Texas High
School Baseball Coaches Association, and three of the teams ahead of
them have been eliminated since the poll was last updated May 12th.
Shiner threatened early against Blackwell (9-2) when the Eagle right-
hander plunked Joey Gamez, then walked Wesley Patek on five pitches.
However, Coy Boedeker smashed the next pitch to third baseman Dylan
Carter. The runners ran with the pitch, believing Carter short-hopped
the catch. Carter threw to second baseman Cody Crofts to double off
Gamez, then Crofts relayed to first to triple off Patek.
Johnson City (29-5-1) then took the lead in the bottom of the first when
Kris McDonald singled, stole second, then scored two outs later on a
single to right by Carter.
Shiner (26-9) tied the game in the second when Donovan Mardis drew a
one-out walk, went to second on a groundout, to third on passed ball,
then scored when Gamez reached on an error.
The Eagles retook the lead by taking advantage of an injury situation.
Shiner catcher Zach Reese broke his hand during the Thrall series in the
region quarterfinals, forcing Comanche coach Daniel Boedeker to move
Cuatro Rankin to catcher. Rankin has struggled since; twice an Eagle
hitter reached first on a passed ball strike three, although neither
player scored.
In the fourth, however, the Eagles broke through. Humphrey and Cody
Smith walked to start the inning, then Ky Sandelovic (11-4) struck out
Garrett Deleon. Strike three got away from Rankin, and the Shiner
catcher appeared to forget that with less than two out and first base
occupied, the batter is automatically out even when strike three isn’t
caught on the fly. As Rankin motioned to throw to first, the runners
each took a lead. Rankin adjusted and threw to third, with his throw
sailing over Coy Boedeker’s head, allowing both Humphrey and Smith to
score. After the error, Johnson City led 3-1.
Shiner tied the game in the fourth on back-to-back bases-loaded walks
issued to Mardis and Matt Pohler, but stranded the bases full when
Blackwell struck out Gamez. Sandelovic singled during this rally,
tallying Shiner’s only hit.
Johnson City built a lead Shiner couldn’t surmount in the fifth. Luke
Neely singled to lead off the inning and stole second; one out later, he
stole third. Blackwell singled him home, then stole second himself.
Humphrey drove Blackwell home with a double to the left field gap, then
scored one out later on a DeLeon single, putting Johnson City ahead 6-3.
Johnson City locked down the game with three more runs in the sixth.
The winner of the series will represent Region IV in the State
Tournament, and play a state semifinal Wednesday at the Dell Diamond.
Region IV Finals - Game 1
123 456 7 R H E
SHINER 001 200 0 - 3 1 2
JOHNSON CITY 100 233 x - 9 9 3
E -- Shiner: Cuatro Rankin, Brady Cejka. Johnson City: Luke Neely 2, Dylan Carter.
DP -- none.
Triple Play: Johnson City 1.
LOB -- Shiner 8, Johnson City 8.
2B -- Johnson City: Aaron Humphrey.
SB -- Johnson City: Kris McDonald, Luke Neely 2, Laramie Blackwell, Cody Crofts.
Pitching lines IP H R ER BB HBP K #pitches
Johnson City
Laramie Blackwell (W, 9-2) 7 1 3 2 7 2 4 143
Shiner
Ky Sandelovic (L, 11-4) 5-1/3 9 9 8 5 0 5 122
Jacob Stafford 0-2/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 5
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