It was an up and down weekend for the Thrall Tigers (2-3) posted a 1-2 record over the weekend at the Burton tournament.
The Tigers opened the tournament with a 20-7 loss to Class 5A Waller High School’s junior varsity. A combination of errors and walks proved costly for the Tigers. Thrall committed seven errors and three Tiger pitchers combined for nine walks that accounted for most of the Bulldogs’ runs.
Waller took an 8-0 lead into the Thrall half of the third inning. The Tigers put four runs on the board in the third and cut the lead in half. The big blow for the Tigers came on Hayden Heselmeyer’s three-run homerun. The Tigers added one more run on a Waller error and trailed just 8-4 going into the fourth.
The Bulldogs responded with eight runs in the top of the fourth inning on just two hits and pushed their lead to 16-4. Thrall answered with its final three runs in the bottom half of the inning. Jack Watson led off the inning with a triple and scored on a Waller error. One out later, Hayden Stefek hit into a fielder’s choice that scored Cayden Watson. Thrall’s final run came on a Mac Hamann grounder that drove in Heselmeyer.
Waller finished the game with a four-run fifth.
On Saturday, the Tigers started the day with an 18-5 rout of Luling. Jack Watson and Ty Bradford each had three hits for the Tigers and Cayden Watson drove in a pair of runs in the win. Stefek got the win on the mound. He allowed five runs on four hits, while striking out four.
The Tigers put eight runs on the board in the third inning to break open a 5-1 game. Luling scored four in the bottom half of the fourth inning, but couldn’t close the gap.
In their final game, the Tigers ran into a meat-grinder in St. John XXIII. The Lions used a seven-run third and a perfect game on the mound to blank the Tigers 10-0 in four innings.
Thrall opened District 27-2A play on Tuesday night when they hosted the Bartlett Bulldogs. They will host the Thrall tournament beginning Thursday. The Tigers will play McGregor on Thursday at 5 p.m. and will play Florence and Hutto’s junior varsity on Friday. Seedings will determine play on Saturday.
