Scoop27
05-16-2015, 10:46 AM
DON CUDD sports@thefacts.com | 0 comments
SWEENY — Sweeny High School's new baseball field paid a dividend for the team Friday night.
The shiny new, quick-draining artificial turf helped make the school's stadium the only place the Bulldogs and the Taylor Ducks could play their best-of-three Class 4A Region IV playoff series this weekend.
And Sweeny (22-5) took Game 1, 9-1, over the travel weary bunch from Taylor (23-6). The game's start was delayed by rain for more than two-and-half hours, and it concluded just before midnight.
Sweeny will go for its second straight postseason sweep at 1 p.m. today. If a third game is necessary, it will begin about 30 minutes after Game 2.
The winner of the series advances to the regional quarterfinals to face either El Campo or Wimberley.
But Friday's contest was in doubt earlier in the week.
The series was originally scheduled to be played at the neutral site of La Grange High School beginning Thursday. But recent heavy rains in Central Texas — along with forecasts for more — made those plans impractical, however, and both coaches agreed on a home-and-home series, with Sweeny deferring home field advantage.
But Taylor coach Jeremy Mueller had difficulty locating a dry, free field for the Duck's hosted games, so he agreed to play the entire series at Sweeny.
A team hosting an entire playoff series is a rarity, but the Bulldogs did not let the opportunity go to waste Friday.
"Yeah, having this field (designed to stand up to hours of rain) really helped us," Sweeny Coach David Luster said.
After nearly a three-hour ride from Taylor, the Ducks checked in at their hotel in Angleton early Friday afternoon, then arrived in Sweeny just in time to wait out the rain delay.
A steady rain pushed back the start of another playoff game, as Crosby and George Ranch were set to play at 4:30 p.m. on Sweeny's field. However, the start time fell to about 6:30 p.m., which pushed the Bulldogs battle with the Ducks back to about 9:45 p.m. instead of the scheduled 7 p.m. slot.
"It has been a very crazy week for us," Mueller said during the delay. "We did get to stay at the hotel a little longer than we'd planned before coming out here, but we've been hanging around the field for a long time time now."
Meanwhile, Sweeny's players were able to arrive at the stadium at their leisure from their homes — two or three just had to walk across the street.
And it turned out water isn't always good for Ducks.
Taylor managed just two infield hits off Sweeny starter Mitchell Ullom, who struck out seven Taylor batters in 6 1/3 innings. Ullom's last outing was in a 14-1 complete-game thumping of Wharton in the bidistrict round last week.
Meanwhile, Sweeny's nine runs came on just three hits. The Bulldogs took advantage of Taylor's lackluster defense, particularly in the third and fourth innings when they racked up five and three runs, respectively.
Two of Sweeny's third-inning tallies came as runners sneaked home from third base when Taylor tried to catch runners attempting to steal second. Those plays, along with a series of walks by Taylor starter Ryland Cox, led to a three-run double from Sweeny first baseman Brett Bullard to put the Bulldogs ahead 6-1.
Jacob Mathis punctuated Sweeny's fourth-inning scoring with a two-run double off Taylor reliever Joel Cruz, who walked five straight Bulldogs before facing Mathis.
Bulldog catcher Shawn Kelley got things started on a good note in the first inning, lining a shot into left field that scored Cody Erikson from second.
SWEENY — Sweeny High School's new baseball field paid a dividend for the team Friday night.
The shiny new, quick-draining artificial turf helped make the school's stadium the only place the Bulldogs and the Taylor Ducks could play their best-of-three Class 4A Region IV playoff series this weekend.
And Sweeny (22-5) took Game 1, 9-1, over the travel weary bunch from Taylor (23-6). The game's start was delayed by rain for more than two-and-half hours, and it concluded just before midnight.
Sweeny will go for its second straight postseason sweep at 1 p.m. today. If a third game is necessary, it will begin about 30 minutes after Game 2.
The winner of the series advances to the regional quarterfinals to face either El Campo or Wimberley.
But Friday's contest was in doubt earlier in the week.
The series was originally scheduled to be played at the neutral site of La Grange High School beginning Thursday. But recent heavy rains in Central Texas — along with forecasts for more — made those plans impractical, however, and both coaches agreed on a home-and-home series, with Sweeny deferring home field advantage.
But Taylor coach Jeremy Mueller had difficulty locating a dry, free field for the Duck's hosted games, so he agreed to play the entire series at Sweeny.
A team hosting an entire playoff series is a rarity, but the Bulldogs did not let the opportunity go to waste Friday.
"Yeah, having this field (designed to stand up to hours of rain) really helped us," Sweeny Coach David Luster said.
After nearly a three-hour ride from Taylor, the Ducks checked in at their hotel in Angleton early Friday afternoon, then arrived in Sweeny just in time to wait out the rain delay.
A steady rain pushed back the start of another playoff game, as Crosby and George Ranch were set to play at 4:30 p.m. on Sweeny's field. However, the start time fell to about 6:30 p.m., which pushed the Bulldogs battle with the Ducks back to about 9:45 p.m. instead of the scheduled 7 p.m. slot.
"It has been a very crazy week for us," Mueller said during the delay. "We did get to stay at the hotel a little longer than we'd planned before coming out here, but we've been hanging around the field for a long time time now."
Meanwhile, Sweeny's players were able to arrive at the stadium at their leisure from their homes — two or three just had to walk across the street.
And it turned out water isn't always good for Ducks.
Taylor managed just two infield hits off Sweeny starter Mitchell Ullom, who struck out seven Taylor batters in 6 1/3 innings. Ullom's last outing was in a 14-1 complete-game thumping of Wharton in the bidistrict round last week.
Meanwhile, Sweeny's nine runs came on just three hits. The Bulldogs took advantage of Taylor's lackluster defense, particularly in the third and fourth innings when they racked up five and three runs, respectively.
Two of Sweeny's third-inning tallies came as runners sneaked home from third base when Taylor tried to catch runners attempting to steal second. Those plays, along with a series of walks by Taylor starter Ryland Cox, led to a three-run double from Sweeny first baseman Brett Bullard to put the Bulldogs ahead 6-1.
Jacob Mathis punctuated Sweeny's fourth-inning scoring with a two-run double off Taylor reliever Joel Cruz, who walked five straight Bulldogs before facing Mathis.
Bulldog catcher Shawn Kelley got things started on a good note in the first inning, lining a shot into left field that scored Cody Erikson from second.