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The Tigers baseball team got a double-dose of what had plagued them throughout the season when they took on the Cedar Park Timberwolves in bi-district action. All season long they have been unable to get a starting pitcher to pitch well in the first couple of innings giving up big leads early. Good teams take advantage and turn them into losses. The major cause is freebie walks making the old adage “you can figure on having a run scored against you for every walk you give up”. Comebacks are also tough when a team does not execute at bats in key situations. Cedar Park had it all as they dealt the Tigers 6-1, 9-1 losses to eliminate them from the playoffs.
In the first game at Cedar Park, Nico Ruedas got the Tigers off on the right foot as he walked, stole second and then scored on Brandon Arvidson's double. That would prove to be the last hurrah as the Tigers would not score again and strikeout 14 times in the game.
Meanwhile, CP would take advantage of Arvidson's poor start as he gave up four runs on two walks and three hits in the first inning. CP added another two in the second on two walks, a single and two runners that got on first after striking out. This chased Arvidson after 1.2 innings. Neither team scored after that but the damage had been done.
Next day, Ruedas was handed the ball with the purpose of getting the Tigers to the third game. Again, the old problem of control came into play. The first batter walked, the second was hit by a pitch. After two fly outs, the next batter drilled a triple to score two and scored on a passed ball to quickly give the Timberwolves a 3-0 lead with a very good pitcher to face. The Tigers tried to get something started when Mason Ashlock and Taylor Tracey singled to lead off the second. A double-play and groundout doused the opportunity. The game kept collecting zeros until the sixth.
Ruedas' gallant effort would give way. He walked two, hit a batter and gave up three hits. That led to five runs before he was relieved and one more run would later cross the plate. One knows a team is in scoring trouble when their leadoff batter does not get their third appearance at the plate until the sixth. The Tigers were able to erase the zero with a two-out error allowing Jaxon Conover, who had singled, to score.
Dripping Springs would have had a tough row to hoe, no matter what seed they were in district. All the teams in 26-5A had to play district champions in their bi-district games. All four District 25-5A teams shared the title with 10-4 records. The Tigers ended their season with an 18- 13 record.
Vs CP1: Hits: Ruedas, Arvidson 2B, Tracey, Sam Agajanian 2B. Pitching: Arvidson: 1.2IP, 4H, 6R, 4ER. 4K, 4W; Travis Mora: 3.1IP, 3H, 1W; Price Donatellio: 1IP.
Vs CP2: Hits: Ashlock 2, Tracey, Conover, Agajanian. Pitching: Ruedas: 5.1IP, 6H, 8R, 7ER, 3K, 5W, 2HBP; Donatellio: .2IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER; Conover: 1IP.
