The Granger Lions (14-11 overall, 11-6 District 27-2A) spotted the Thrall Tigers (18-12, 10-7) an early 3-0 lead only to rally for a 6-5 win to earn the fourth playoff spot from District 27-2A. The teams completed the regular season tied with identical 10-6 marks in district play and split their regular season games.
Thrall started off hot posting three runs in the bottom of the first. Ty Bradford led off the inning with a double to center and scored on Hayden Heselmeyer’s one-out single to center. Carson Ball’s single advanced Heselmeyer to third, and he scored on Anthony Sandoval’s groundout to first. With Ball standing at third, Bobby Clark lined a single to right to make the score 3-0.
Granger responded with three runs of its own in the top of the second. Chase Selucky drew a walk to lead off the Lion second, and when Travis Burton was hit by a pitch, the Lions were in business with two on and no outs. A balk advanced both runners, and a dropped third strike plated the first Granger run of the game.
Thrall was able to pick up a pair of strikeouts by Maverick McAllister and appeared to be working out of trouble Isaac Lizardo hit an infield single, scoring Burton and Tim Hall. The two runs knotted the score at three apiece.
The Lions took their first lead of the game in the third. Nathan Tucker was hit by a pitch to start the inning, and a Tiger error on a Burton grounder, pushed a run across for a 4-3 lead.
Granger added two more runs to its total in the fourth. With two outs, Tripp Wilkie drew a walk and advanced to third on Cobe Whitney’s single to center. Wilkie scored on a passed ball and the Lions led 5-3.
The Tigers answered with a run in the bottom of the inning. Jaden Rodriguez reached on a Lion error and scored on Bradford’s single to right. The run trimmed the Granger lead to 5-4.
Granger regained its two-run cushion with another run in the fifth. Selucky led off the inning with a single and stole second. A dropped third strike allowed Selucky to advance to third, and he scored on a pick-off attempt to first. The run gave the Lions a 6-4 lead.
Thrall tallied its final run in the bottom of the fifth. Sandoval reached on a Lion miscue and advanced to second on an error that put Clark on first. The bases went full of Tigers following Rodriguez’s single. Asa Gibbs followed up with a fielder’s choice to score Sandoval and cut the Granger lead to 6-5.
The Tigers managed to put a pair of runners on in the bottom of the seventh but could not tie the game.
Lizardo led the Lions with two hits and drove in two runs. Bradford led the Tigers with three hits in four trips to the plate. Tucker got the win for Granger. He allowed two runs on three hits over five and two-thirds innings of work.
Granger advanced to the bi-district round of the playoffs. They were slated to play the Johnson City Eagles (16-6) in a best-of-three series.
