Buckeyes sweep Vandals, Pitt up next

Mirror Photo / M.L. Kirby HUNTER HARRISON throws to Garrett Adkins for aa 4-3 combination as the Buckeyes retired the Van Vandals in order in the fifth inning Saturday. Strong defense helped the 23-7 Buckeyes defeat Van in two straight games, 5-2 and 7-2, to win area.

KILGORE — Gilmer used a 5-run sixth inning to sweep the Van Vandals and capture the Area baseball championship. The Buckeyes (23-6) broke a 2-2 tie with Van at Driller Park in Kilgore Saturday, wrapping up the sweep of the Vandals by winning the second game, 7-2.

Gilmer had won 5-2 in the first game of the series Thursday at Summers Norman Field in Jacksonville.

Next up is a series with Pittsburg (19-9) at Northeast Community College, starting Thursday at 7 p.m. The regional quarterfinals best 2-of-3 series will continue at 7 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday, if needed. Gilmer’s Jake Ashley (7-4) picked up the win, pitching a complete game for the Buckeyes as he gave up the two runs on four hits. He struck out five and walked only two as he threw 98 pitches.

Van’s Chance Cotton took the loss, going 5 and one-third innings, allowing seven runs on nine hits and walking three. Cotton twice hit Dustin Hardin to give him a free trip to the bases.

Matthew Goode came on in the sixth and finished the game for Van.

The Buckeyes picked up nine hits, five walks, three steals, and three reached after being hit by a pitch.

“We have been struggling with our bats,” Coach Joey Hector conceded after the second game. “But we have played great defense and we are getting great pitching. Now we move to the third round.”

While the Buckeyes have not played Pittsburg in 2008, many of the Buckeyes know several of the Pirates very well from previous games both in the regular season and in summer ball.

Pittsburg defeated Texarkana Pleasant Grove in their second regular season game to qualify for the playoffs, and has defeated White Oak in two games and Eustace, 5-3 and 9-4. The Pirates were leading 4-1 Saturday when Eustace rallied to tie the game in the sixth.

Gilmer trailed Van after a 2-1 flurry in the first inning. Varnado converted getting hit by a pitch, a stolen base, and a sacrifice fly by Garrett Adkins into the first run of the game.

Van’s Colt Oliver singled and Zach Harrison walked in the bottom of the first inning. Chance Cotton hit a single just inside the right field line to score Oliver and Harrison. As in the first game between the two teams, Van had two runs in the first inning and a lead.

After two scoreless innings, in the fourth, it appeared that Paul Chesnut would score on a balk, but the officials held a conference and reversed their call. Ashley settled the matter by hitting the next pitch to short center field, scoring Chesnut and tying the game at 2-2.

Ashley faced just three Vandals in each of the next two innings, with the Buckeyes turning a double play in the fourth.

Meanwhile, the Buckeyes were getting players on base but not to the plate. After five innings, Gilmer had left eight batters stranded.

D.J. Stanley opened the sixth inning with a single to left. After Hardin advanced him to second, Ashley walked.

Varnado laid down a perfect bunt just past the pitcher, with Allan Dike, the shortstop, staring down Stanley to stop a run but allowing Gilmer to load the bases.

Brennan Thompson then walked to force in the winning run. Garrett Adkins gave Gilmer an insurance policy when he hit to right center field for two RBIs.

After Kyle Bowden walked to reload the bases, Chesnut forced in a run with his walk.

Stanley on his second trip to the plate hit a fly to center to end the inning, but not before Gilmer had a commanding 7-2 lead.

Adkins led all batters in the two game series with two hits and a run in the first game and going 3-for-4 in the second with three RBIs and a run scored.

Varnado and Stanley each went 2-for-4 with two runs and a steal for Varnado and one run and a steal for Stanley.

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