Aledo outlasts Colleyville Heritage, 3-2

The Aledo Bearcats defeated the Colleyville Heritage Panthers 3-2 in game one of their area playoff series Thursday at Northwest Justin High School. Aledo (24-8-1) was scheduled to play Colleyville Heritage (27-6) in game two Friday. If needed, the Bearcats will play the Panthers in game three at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. The Bearcats previously defeated the Denton Braswell Bengals in their bi-district series last week. Aledo, unranked in Class 5A by the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association, took a 2-1 lead over No. 2 ranked Colleyville Heritage in the top of the second. The Panthers and Bearcats traded RBIs in the bottom of the fourth and top of the fifth, respectively. Nursing a 3-2 lead in the top of the the same inning, Aledo needed a stop. They got it. With runs at a premium Thursday, the Bearcats’ defense played spoiler down the stretch. After loading the bases with one out in the bottom of the fifth, Colleyville Heritage looked poised to take the lead. However, a ground ball to Aledo relief pitcher Chance Roberts resulted in a double play via homeplate and then first base. Bearcats’ Head Baseball Coach Chad Berry said the clutch play came at the perfect time. “We felt like if we could get a ground ball, we could maybe get two in the middle, or at least one at home,” Berry said. “With a force at every bag, it ended up working well for us.” Both squads benefitted from strong performances on the mound. Pitcher Briley Rodriguez earned the win for Aledo, lasting four innings while striking out three and allowing five hits. Berry said Rodriguez was determined to prove himself after a recent rough patch. “I felt like Briley was real disappointed about how he pitched last week,” he said. “He was rusty because he had missed a start the week before, so it had really been two weeks since he had been on the mound. Last week when he came back, he didn’t seem to have the crispness in his breaking pitches or command of his fastball, and you could see him working this week. “He was not happy, and pretty low-key this week, and he came out tonight and quieted his critics a little bit. He pitched a heck of a game.” Both teams each recorded six hits and an error. The tight win was made even more difficult for Aledo after some early, self-inflicted mistakes, Berry said. Nerves admittedly had an impact on the Bearcats, he said. “I thought, really, we made it difficult on ourselves, we were kind of foolish with the baseball there in the first inning. Just butterflies getting to us.” However, the Bearcats kept their composure to jump out to a 1-0 lead in the three-game series. Peaster faces off against Brady The Peaster Greyhounds were scheduled to play game one of their area playoff series against the Brady Bulldogs Friday in Glenrose. Peaster will play game two at 3 p.m. Saturday. Game three, if necessary, will be played immediately folllwing game two. Brock plays lone area playoff game The Brock Eagles were scheduled to play their lone area playoff game Friday against the Comanche Indians in Eastland.

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ALEDO OUTLASTS COLLEYVILLE HERITAGE, 3-2

FORREST MURPHY

Weatherford Democrat | 5/12/2018

PHOTO CREDIT: Forrest Murphy