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Bulldogs score lone run of 13 inning game to advance to regional quarterfinal, Thornell hits walk-off single
The Magnolia Potpourri by Dustin Bass
This was a game that seemed as if it would never end. But after 12 innings of scoreless ball, the lucky 13 inning showed up for the Bulldogs. With two outs and Kenny Frelow on third base, after stealing second and advancing on a fielder's choice, Brett Thornell laced a single between first and second base beating Port Neches Groves, 1-0, and bringing more than three hours of baseball to a close.
"It was a pretty long game," Thornell said. "But when your adrenaline gets going, you don't feel anything."
Even after a draining game of back and forth, pitching-dominant game, the adrenaline finally took over on the offensive end with the Bulldogs finally getting two hits in an inning. It was the most important hits of Frelow and Thornell's high school careers.
"Coach told us to be aggressive," Thornell said. "I was going to hit the first strike and that's what I did. It felt good finally hitting the ball solid like that."
The game was very close to being over in the 10th inning after Magnolia put a man on third base with no outs. But after a strikeout, a miscue on a good bunt, a pop-up on a 2-0 count and a groundout, the Bulldogs had to go back out on the field for more defense.
"We were doing a safety squeeze because he was pitching wild," Coach Dale Westmoreland said of the 10th inning. "We were very out of character that inning."
Something that wasn't out of character was the team's pitching with Garrett Kinart and Ryan Welch combining for 13 innings of five hit shutout ball.
"The pitching did a tremendous job," Westmoreland said. "(Port Neches Groves) did too. But we didn't swing like we had been. We were taking pitches. A lot of that is tension. We have to learn from this. The pressure of the game can't get to us."
Yes, this game was completely different from the first-round against Manor, which was a 14-0 blowout. But for a split second, the pressure took a step back and allowed Thornell to breathe easy enough to send his team to the regional quarterfinal.
"I'm really, really relieved that ball went through," said Jake Downey, who caught all 13 innings. "I didn't believe it at first."
Downey said his fatigue mainly stemmed from throwing back to the pitcher throughout the game and from getting hit in the right knee on a foul tip, but the pain didn't alleviate the thrill of getting the win and seeing first-hand how dominant his pitchers could be.
"It's special to have both of them (Kinart and Welch)," he said. "Someone comes and throws nine or 10 innings and another comes in and throws gas. We still had some pitchers. We are so deep."
He said that is the main reason he feels the Bulldogs can beat any team, especially in a three-game series. The team has three dominant left-handers, Kinart, Welch and Derek Barosh. Barosh, however, may be questionable for the opening game of the third-round in Lufkin due to be ejected during the game for arguing balls and strikes.
Nonetheless, the team should be fine whether he is forced to skip to the second and/or third game of the series against Nederland. But for now, the team will soak up this win for the next 48 hours, if not sleep for the next 48 hours.
"I'm dead tired," Welch said. "I didn't know if (Thornell's single) was going to be a hit until everyone stormed out (onto the field), then I went out there."
Kinart said he figured after he left the game it would be one or two more innings, but it ended up being five more.
"Leaving the game, I was disappointed," he said about being taken out, "but I was tired."
The Bulldogs learned to battle in this contest, which has been a rarity for a team that has had no problem in a very large majority of its game scoring runs in bulk.
"You just find a way to win games," Westmoreland said. "I didn't think we were ourselves mentally and we still won."
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