THRALL — The Thrall Tigers (12-5-1 overall, 5-0 District 27-2A) remained in the top spot of the District 27-2A race Tuesday night after a dramatic 7-6 come-from-behind win over the Holland Hornets (7-8, 3-1).
It was all Hornets through the first four innings. Holland pushed a pair of runs across in the top of the first thanks to three Tiger errors. They added two more in the second, this time using their bats to knock out a trio of singles. In both cases, the Hornets scored their runs with two outs, leaving the Tigers trailing 4-0.
Holland continued to get to the Thrall pitchers in the third, adding another run, again scoring on a trio of hits, including a lead-off double by Trey Grinnan. Grinnan would score on Austin Hargrove’s single to left.
The Hornets continued to control the plate in the fourth, pushing their lead to 6-0 with another run. But, the momentum of the game began to change at that point.
In the Tigers’ half of the fifth inning, while not scoring, you could see a change in the Tigers. Their defense shored up and their plate appearances began to take on an urgency that led to their rally.
It was in the sixth inning that the momentum swing was most apparent, at the point when the wheels completely came off for Holland’s pitching. The Tigers took advantage of five walks issued to the first six batters of the inning and cut the lead to 6-2 with one out.
A sacrifice fly by Jack Gustafson led to another run. And, another walk and a Hornet error allowed two more runs to score, tying the game at six apiece after six innings.’
The Tigers completed the rally in the seventh. Anthony Sandoval and Carter Bradford drew walks to open the inning and Ty Bradford’s single loaded the bases for the Tigers. One out later, Maverick McAllister’s sacrifice fly to centerfield scored Sandoval for the winning run.
Holland picked up all of their runs off Tiger starting pitcher McAllister, who went three and one-third innings before giving way to Sandoval. Sandoval pitched masterfully. He went the final three and two-thirds innings without surrendering a hit and struck out 10 Hornet batters to get the win and run his record to a perfect 5-0.
At the plate, Hayden Heselmeyer led the Tigers with three hits in four trips to the plate. He is currently leading the team with a .413 batting average.
The Tigers, who have won four straight, and eight of their last nine games, will try and keep the streak alive on Friday when they travel to Bremond (4-5, 1-3). They will return home on Saturday to host the Bartlett Bulldogs (9-81, 2-3).
