Published: May 13, 2008 09:59 am         

Bulldogs Continue Playoff Run With Win Over Albany

The Wortham Bulldogs baseball team picked up an impressive win over the Albany Lions in the Area round of the state playoffs last Friday in Granbury. The 5-2 win by Wortham advances them to the Regional Quarterfinals later this week against either Bosqueville or Goldthwaite.

The pitching of Jody Spain and the timely hitting of Brandon Lansford and Jake Jones ultimately proved to be the deciding factors in the contest. Spain went the distance for the win while Lansford picked up a single and a double and three runs batted in. Jones had a single and a triple and two runs batted in. The Bulldogs had eight total hits in the game.

Albany was the visiting team and their starting lineup had Ty Anderson at pitcher, Jackson Bailey at catcher, Teagan Brown at first, Clay Williams at second, Cory Peacock at third, Cody Wood at shortstop, Bruce Holson in left, Robert Hare in center, and Rob Hudman in right. Ben Bumguardner was the designated hitter, batting for Bailey.

Wortham head coach Robert Wynn and assistant coach Stephen Sweeney had Spain on the mound, Hance Spencer at catcher, Aaron Allen at first, Rypin Rogers at second, Bradley Paradoski at third, Jones at short, Lansford in left, Bubba Short in center, and David Sinclair in right. Dillon Hutson batted for Sinclair.

Hare started off the game for the Lions by striking out, but Hudman reached on a single to right. However, he was thrown out by Spencer attempting to steal and then Wood struck out to end the inning.

Spencer opened the bottom of the first for the Bulldogs by walking, but he was picked off of first. Jones singled to center, but he was stranded at first when Spain and Allen both flied out to center.

Each side went out in order in the second and third innings, but Albany threatened in the top of the fourth. Hare walked to open the inning, but Hudman struck out for the first out. Wood singled to center and Hare went to third. Brown then hit a ground ball to Jones at short and he pegged home to Spencer. Spencer tagged out Hare for the second out of the inning and then Spain got Williams to strike out to end the inning.

Wortham also threatened in the fourth. Spain singled to left with one out and then stole second base. But he was left there when Allen flied out to center and Rogers struck out.

Spain wound up striking out the side in the top of the fifth inning. In the bottom of the fifth the Bulldogs finally scratched paydirt. Paradoski opened with a walk and moved to second on a passed ball. Ashton Gentry came on to pinch run for him at second. Short struck out for out number one and then Hutson popped out to third for out number two. With Gentry still at second, Lansford came to the plate. He singled sharply to left and Gentry came around to score to make it 1-0, Wortham. Spencer followed with a single to right and Wortham had two on with two out. Jones then slapped a 2-2 pitch in the gap between right and center. His hit resulted in a triple with Lansford and Spencer each scoring to make it a 3-0 game. Spain followed with a walk, but Allen grounded out to short to end the inning.

The Lions came back in the top of the sixth with two runs. Hare reached on an infield single, but Spain got Hudman to line out to Jones for out number one. Wood, up next, singled to left and the Lions had two on with one out. Brown was up next and he doubled to right to bring home Hare and Wood and make it a 3-2 contest. Spain, however, regrouped and struck out Williams and Holson to end the inning.

Rogers opened the bottom of the sixth for Wortham with a single to left. He then stole second base. Paradoski flied out to left, but Short reached on a bunt single that got past Anderson. Hutson struck out, but Lansford came through once again. He stroked a double to left and Rogers and Short both scored to make it 5-2. Spencer struck out to end the inning.

The first two Lion batters reached in the top of the seventh, but Spain got a strikeout of Peacock for the first out. Hare hit the ball to Rogers next and he forced a runner at second for out number two. Hudman, up next, hit a grounder to Jones at short and he raced to second to force Hare and end the game with Wortham winning, 5-2.

It was a complete game effort for Spain. He wound up throwing 111 pitches. He allowed 7 hits, 2 earned runs, walked one, and struck out 11. Anderson went the distance for Albany in taking the loss.

“I was really proud of our effort tonight. I told the guys that if we play like we can and play good defense that we can win this game. Our defense was there all night and we got some timely hits. The bottom half of our lineup is what got our hitting going. Brandon came through with two big hits and drove in three and Jake had that big triple in the fifth that put us up 3-0. Jake has been solid all year long. I gave a game ball to Brandon for getting us going in the fifth and I also gave a game ball to Jody for his pitching. That was one of his best efforts of the year. He struggled some with the high mound, but he got the outs when he needed to,” summed up Wynn.