GRANGER – Thomas Hall’s walk-off single to left in the bottom of the seventh inning gave the Granger Lions (10-9 overall, 7-4 District 27-2A) a 4-3 win over the Thrall Tigers (14-7, 6-5) Tuesday night. The win also gave the Lions sole possession of fourth place in the race for the playoffs.
The first three innings were scoreless for both teams, but the bats came alive in the fourth.
In Thrall’s half of the inning, Carter Bradford led things off with a line-drive single to right.
Bobby Clark followed and reached on an error by the third baseman to put two runners on.
Anthony Sandoval drove in the first run of the game with an infield single that scored Carter Bradford.
After a second out, Ty Bradford loaded the bases with a single right.
Hayden Heselmeyer then hit a line-drive to the Lions’ shortstop, who misplayed the ball, allowing Sandoval and pinch-runner Asa Gibbs to come home for a 3-0 Tigers lead.
Not to be outdone, the Lions responded with three runs in the bottom half of the fourth. Nate Tucker drew a walk to start the inning off, stole second and moved to third on a passed ball.
Hall also drew a walk with one out, and the Lions were in business with runners at the corners. Travis Burton’s double to right finally got the Lions on the board and Marcus Martinez’s single to right cut the lead to 3-2 and, a routine grounder by Michael Selucky drove home another run to knot the score at three after four innings of play.
The score remained tied until the bottom of the seventh inning.
Cobe Whitney led off the Lions’ seventh with a single to right and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Tucker.
Michael Selucky’s single to left put runners at the corners with two outs.
Hall followed with a walk-off single to left, scoring Whitney for the game-winner.
Sandoval led the Tigers at the plate with two hits in three at-bats.
He also drove in one run. Granger was held to just six hits, but they made the most of them.
Nate Tucker got the win for the lions, allowing three runs on six hits over six innings of work.
Heselmeyer took the loss, coming in as relief in the seventh and allowing one run on three hits. McAllister pitched six strong innings for the Tigers, allowing three runs on three hits and striking out eight.
Thrall was on the road Friday, taking on the Rosebud-Lott Cougars and will return home on Saturday to face the Holland Hornets.
Saturday’s game will also feature a tribute to the 1998 state championship for the Tigers. Granger hosted the Chilton Pirates on Friday, before traveling to Milano on Saturday.
