EC takes on Wharton Tourney
Ricebirds get tough start in tournament with Brahmas
By KRIS BAGLEY sports@leader-news.com

Tyler Tags Him Tyler Socha (above) braces for impact with a Bellville Brahma attempting to slide. The two collided here in a battle for second base. After the play (left) Socha shows the umpire he still has the ball while the Brahma base runner is left in a cloud of dust for the third out in the top of the third inning.

The Ricebirds had a tough run in with the Bellville Brahmas Thursday to start the Wharton Baseball Tournament.

El Campo fell 2-1 in a game where the 'Birds' bats could have used a boost.

"We waited too long to get some hits and score one run," Kerry Brandl, head coach of the Ricebirds, said. "Just like the other night (against Waller) when we got 10 hits and scored three runs. Somebody has got to step up and get a big hit with two outs. We're leaving too many people on base and we're not driving them in when we need to. If we don't get these two-out hits, we're going to be in trouble."

The Ricebirds faced Cypress Springs Friday afternoon and will end their tournament run today with a noon start against Jersey Village. The games should provide plenty of opportunities for El Campo's hitting woes to wear off.

L-N Photos by Kris Bagley

In the midst of offensive struggles, Thursday's game was marked by great performances by the Ricebird defense and starting pitcher Matthew Hamman.

The junior pitcher lasted the entire seven innings, walked three batters, earned only one of Bellville's two runs and struck out 11 batters.

Brandl acknowledged the strong outing, but insisted that it is all for nothing without the runs to support it.

"We've just got to hit," he said. "You can play defense and pitch well all night and not score a run and you're in trouble. We've got to be able to score some runs. God knows we're mixing and matching and trying to find somebody to do that. It's not like we're not trying, we're just not getting it done.

"(We will) keep working in practice like we do every day. We're busting our rear ends in practice every day doing all we know how to do."

Both teams were held silent in scoring until Bellville broke through in the top of the fourth inning.

The first batter of the inning connected for a single to left field while the next batter hit a sacrifice bunt to bring him over to second base.

Another single to left field in the third at-bat put runners on first and third bases and set up a run.

The fourth batter of the inning sent a shot to right field for a single and an RBI. Possibly shaken a little by Bellville's offense, Hamman hit the next batter to load the bases.

El Campo's pitcher showed confi- dence in the next at-bat, sending the batter back to the dugout on a swinging strikeout.

After the second out, Bellville's manager made a substitution at third base to opt for some extra speed and it worked. A pitch hit the dirt and rolled to the backstop to send in the new runner for the second score.

The batter later was thrown out stealing first after a dropped third strike to end the inning with Bellville up 2-0.

The Ricebirds responded to adversity in the bottom of the fourth with nice offensive production.

Bryan Skow led off the inning with a looper past second base for a single. Hamman hit a high-speed chopper to shortstop and Skow beat out the throw to second to give El Campo runners on first and second base.

Blake Korenek made a sacrifice bunt to move the runners over to second and third base and set up El Campo's only run of the game.

Landon Appling connected for a single to left field and sent Skow flying to home plate for a run.

Chase Bullard and Taylor Graham both struck out to end the inning.

The Ricebirds had a chance to tie or take the lead in the bottom of the seventh, but fell short.

Tyler Socha and Holden Whitley made the first two outs of the inning, but the next couple of batters came close to scoring.

Andrew Kinder hit a single just past second base and Skow followed with a nice play. He hit a ground ball to the shortstop and ran through to first just in time to beat out the throw.

With runners on first and second base, Hamman came up to bat. He ended his attempt at bringing Kinder home with a pop-up to the second baseman.

Other scores from the first day of the Wharton Tournament included a 5-4 Jersey Village win over Bay City and Wharton defeating Cypress Springs 10-2.

El Campo's noon game with Jersey Village today is the first of three Saturday matches. After the Ricebirds and Falcons play, Cypress Springs will take on Bay City at 3 p.m. and Wharton will face Bellville at 6 p.m.