Clutch hit powers EC past Terry
By KRIS BAGLEY sports@leader-news.com

TYLER SOCHA

Clutch hitting came through for El Campo Tuesday as the Ricebirds beat the Terry Rangers 6-5.

Tied at 5-5 in the bottom of the seventh, Tyler Socha came through with the gamewinning blast. With the bases loaded and two outs, Socha connected for a single to give the home-town fans reason to cheer. His hit brought in the winning run.

"That's one of the big hits we've been looking for," Kerry Brandl, head coach of the Ricebirds, said. "We lost three district ballgames that we lost 7-6, 3-2 and 5-3 that we left people in scoring position at the end of the ballgame. We got a big hit last night. That's what we've been needing. Hopefully it's not too late. We're going to go Friday and try to take care of business again and get right back in the middle of the hunt."

The Ricebirds traveled to Terry Friday to complete their series with the Rangers. At 2-4 in district play, a victory would be El Campo's third and put them back in the post-season race.

With several games ending in heart-breaking fashion, the Ricebirds needed this win. Brandl is hoping the gameclinching hit will unlock a load of momentum as the 'Birds carry through their district schedule.

"I guess it's resiliency to stay in the game," Brandl said. "We've gone down late in the game and made a late charge three times, had a chance to still win the game and didn't get the big hit late in the game. We can't continue to do that. We've got to take care of business early so we don't put ourselves in that situation.

"Then again, last night, we did what it took to win and that's what we needed right now. We needed to win. There's no such thing as an ugly win. We'll take them anyway we can get them."

The game started well for the Ricebirds. Matthew Hamman started on the mound for El Campo and held the Rangers hitless in the first inning. The 'Birds took the lead in their first at-bat.

Socha led off with a walk and scored a couple at-bats later on a Ranger error to put El Campo up 1-0.

Hamman continued his dominance of the Rangers through the next two innings and El Campo extended its lead in the third.

Blake Korenek connected for a lead-off single and Landon Appling followed with a double. Bryan Skow walked to load the bases and then a big hit came in.

Hamman hit a double and sent Korenek and Appling running home.

Andrew Kinder tried for another RBI, but struck out.

Michael Van Gorp brought in the third run.

On a ground ball to the shortstop, Van Gorp was thrown out at first but not before Skow reached home for the third run of the inning. Hamman was picked off between second and third on the same play and the inning ended with El Campo ahead 4-0.

The Rangers finally found an answer for Hamman's pitching and El Campo's defense in the fourth inning.

Terry rallied for five runs and took a 5-4 lead. Hamman got back in his grove later in the game and prevented any further scoring from the Rangers.

Another shot by Van Gorp tied the game in the fifth inning.

With one out, Hamman hit a single and Matt Janke came in for a pinch run.

Kinder followed with a double to put Janke in scoring position and Van Gorp hit a deep fly ball to right field.

The shot gave Janke enough time to tag up and run in for El Campo's fifth run.

The following at-bat was the third out of the inning, but the Ricebirds had pushed the Rangers to a 5-5 tie.

Through the next couple of innings, neither team could score. That all changed in the bottom of the seventh.

Hamman hit a lead-off single and Kinder followed with a double. The Rangers, realizing Van Gorp was responsible for 2 RBIs on the night, intentionally walked him to load the bases.

The next two batters struck out with their bats still on their shoulders.

With two outs, it seemed like extra innings could come up, but El Campo came through in the clutch.

Socha connected for a single and the winning run came in. His hit capped off a complete team effort.

The Ricebirds defeated the Rangers 6-5 and may have gained some much-needed confidence.

"We'll see," Brandl said. "Hopefully, that's a little boost that we needed at the right time. I told the kids last night, and that's the first time all year that I said, 'We have to win tonight.' It was a must-win game. Friday is a must-win game to get us back into the hunt. Then after that, we need to win them all, but I don't think we have to win them all to get in the playoffs.

"We're going to play one game. Right now, we're worried about Friday and we're going to go from there. Tuesday was a must-win game. We rose to the occasion and did what we had to do. We got some guys on base and then Tyler came through. That was a good thing."

EC JV BASEBALL VS. TERRY