Any updates on game#3?
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Bellaire won 5-2 over Alvin. They move on to meet Houston Westside in the Region 3 finals, pitting two district 20-5A foes against one another. Westside won both games over Bellaire this year and is coming off a two game sweep of Baytown Sterling. Should be a great match-up of two HISD school that NOBODY predicted would get this far.
GO WOLVES!
GO WOLVES!
Bellaire overcomes errors, Alvin, to advance to Region III Championship
Chaskin's pitching and hitting lead the way to doubleheader sweep
By LONNIE KING | ©Copyright Houston5ABaseball.com
The Bellaire Cardinals completed an improbable comeback in Game 3 of their best-of-three Class 5A Region III Semifinal series against the Alvin Yellowjackets with a 5-2 victory that sends them into the Region III Final next week against District 20-5A rival Westside.
In the decisive game, the Cardinals relied on two things that had given them fits for much of Games 1 and 2-pitching and defense.
Kyle Chaskin moved over from third base to the mound and threw a complete game to pick up the win and the Bellaire defense played error-free ball for the first and only game of the series. For Chaskin, getting the Game 3 start came as a bit of a surprise.
"I thought someone else was going to start," Chaskin said afterward. "But he (Bellaire coach Rocky Manuel) called my name. He believed in me."
And with good reason. With the exception of one mistake pitch-that Alvin DH Andrew Gross drilled to left field for a two-run home run-Chaskin worked efficiently against the Alvin lineup all afternoon, allowing six hits.
"He was throwing strikes," said Manuel after the series. "He just got the 0-2 fastball up that (Gross) hit. I think he got some frequent flyer miles off that one. But Kyle's a competitor-he's only a sophomore-and I thought he deserved to be out there."
Chaskin also helped himself at the plate. In the bottom of the first in Game 3, Chaskin's sacrifice fly brought home Jarrett Higgins with the first run of the game. Chaskin would make that 1-0 lead stand up until Gross' home run in the fourth.
Bellaire would come right back, though, in the bottom of the fourth to recapture the lead.
Chaskin led off the inning with a base hit to center. His courtesy runner, Aaron Hafer, stole second base. Then Will McCaleb attempted a sacrifice bunt that Alvin catcher misplayed into a two-base error that scored Hafer to tie the game at 2-2.
Wesley Mercurio followed with an infield hit when no one covered first base for the Yellowjackets on Mercurio's bunt attempt. McCaleb went to third on the play and both he and Mercurio scored when Chris Minifee lined a two-RBI double into the left field corner to give Bellaire a lead that they would not relinquish.
The Cardinals added an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth when Higgins reached on an error by Alvin third baseman Josh Taylor. He scored on McCaleb's RBI double. A great throw to the plate by Alvin left fielder Jaydee Izard nailed Hafer at the plate trying to score a second run on the hit.
Chaskin finished the job, allowing just a one-out single in the sixth and a single and walk in the seventh before striking out Casey Kettler to end the game and send Bellaire to the regional championship series next week.
However, much earlier in the day, it seemed unlikely that the Cardinals would even get to Game 3 of the semifinal series.
In Game 2, Bellaire had to overcome early defensive woes to rally from a 6-1 deficit and win, 7-6, thanks to late inning woes for Alvin's defense and pitching. Freshman Toller Boardman picked up the victory in 2-1/3 innings of scoreless relief and retired the side in order in the seventh inning.
At the start of the afternoon, it appeared Bellaire might be on the verge on being swept from the series, thanks to shaky defense that continued from Game 1 on Friday night.
"That's perplexing," Manuel admitted. "We work so hard on our defense and the defensive mistakes we were making…it's mind-boggling. We hadn't had an errorless game in three or four weeks, but as long as we win, I don't care how many errors we have."
All six of Alvin's runs in Game 2 were unearned. Mike Guerra reached on an error to start the game and scored on Snider's one-out single. After Bellaire had tied the game in the bottom half of the first inning, Guerra again reached on an error in the third and came around to score on Chris McDonald's two-out RBI single. Gross would follow with an RBI double to bring home two more unearned runs.
Then, in the top of the fifth inning, Alvin added three more runs, all of which scored after a two-out error by Bellaire shortstop Alex Silver opened the floodgates for the Yellowjackets. The error allowed Moe Giusto to reach and McDonald followed with a single to center that moved Giusto's pinch runner, Jack Johnson, to second.
Manuel then pulled starting pitcher Jeff Rohrbach in favor of Jared Rothenberg. But Rothenberg pitched to only two batters, hitting Andrew Gross with a pitch and walking Robert Hoffman to bring home a run, before being lifted for Matt Anderson.
Anderson's outing was shorter than Rothenberg's, as he threw four balls, including one for a wild pitch that plated McDonald, and walked the only batter he faced, pinch hitter Ryan Nolen.
Boardman then became Bellaire's fourth pitcher of the game and hit the first batter he faced, Izard, to bring home the third run of the inning. Boardman then got Guerra to ground out to end the inning and would settle down after that.
Meanwhile, the Cardinal bats came to life, starting in the bottom of the fifth. A double by Jeremy Schaffer followed by a single by Higgins put two men on and chased Alvin starter Aaron Stewart from the game. Travis Jenkins, Friday night's hero in relief, came in to try to shut down a Bellaire rally.
But the first batter Jenkins faced, Chaskin, drilled an RBI single up the middle to make it 6-2. One out later, Mercurio singled home Higgins to cut the Alvin lead to 6-3 after five innings.
Jenkins' control troubles in the sixth would again open the door for Bellaire, and the Cardinals took advantage. Walks to Minifee and Knoblauch were followed by an RBI single by Sean Washington. Yellowjacket coach Mike Rogers removed Jenkins in favor of Josh Land, but the momentum shift continued in Bellaire's favor.
Schaffer singled, Higgins was hit by a pitch, McCaleb singled and Mercurio reached on an error and when the dust had settled on the sixth inning, the Cardinals had plated four runs and taken a 7-6 lead.
Boardman retired the side quickly in the seventh to set up the Game 3 drama. And afterward Manuel summed up how he felt.
"Alvin has a good program and Coach Rogers has done a great job over there," stated Manuel, "and I'm not going to say we had them where we wanted them. But I will say this-Alvin didn't want to play a Game 3 today. But we did."
Bellaire will now play the Westside Wolves next week in a best-of-three series at Butler Complex's Ray Knoblauch Field. Westside swept Baytown Sterling to set up the all-HISD final. Exact dates and game times will be determined later.
Chaskin's pitching and hitting lead the way to doubleheader sweep
By LONNIE KING | ©Copyright Houston5ABaseball.com
The Bellaire Cardinals completed an improbable comeback in Game 3 of their best-of-three Class 5A Region III Semifinal series against the Alvin Yellowjackets with a 5-2 victory that sends them into the Region III Final next week against District 20-5A rival Westside.
In the decisive game, the Cardinals relied on two things that had given them fits for much of Games 1 and 2-pitching and defense.
Kyle Chaskin moved over from third base to the mound and threw a complete game to pick up the win and the Bellaire defense played error-free ball for the first and only game of the series. For Chaskin, getting the Game 3 start came as a bit of a surprise.
"I thought someone else was going to start," Chaskin said afterward. "But he (Bellaire coach Rocky Manuel) called my name. He believed in me."
And with good reason. With the exception of one mistake pitch-that Alvin DH Andrew Gross drilled to left field for a two-run home run-Chaskin worked efficiently against the Alvin lineup all afternoon, allowing six hits.
"He was throwing strikes," said Manuel after the series. "He just got the 0-2 fastball up that (Gross) hit. I think he got some frequent flyer miles off that one. But Kyle's a competitor-he's only a sophomore-and I thought he deserved to be out there."
Chaskin also helped himself at the plate. In the bottom of the first in Game 3, Chaskin's sacrifice fly brought home Jarrett Higgins with the first run of the game. Chaskin would make that 1-0 lead stand up until Gross' home run in the fourth.
Bellaire would come right back, though, in the bottom of the fourth to recapture the lead.
Chaskin led off the inning with a base hit to center. His courtesy runner, Aaron Hafer, stole second base. Then Will McCaleb attempted a sacrifice bunt that Alvin catcher misplayed into a two-base error that scored Hafer to tie the game at 2-2.
Wesley Mercurio followed with an infield hit when no one covered first base for the Yellowjackets on Mercurio's bunt attempt. McCaleb went to third on the play and both he and Mercurio scored when Chris Minifee lined a two-RBI double into the left field corner to give Bellaire a lead that they would not relinquish.
The Cardinals added an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth when Higgins reached on an error by Alvin third baseman Josh Taylor. He scored on McCaleb's RBI double. A great throw to the plate by Alvin left fielder Jaydee Izard nailed Hafer at the plate trying to score a second run on the hit.
Chaskin finished the job, allowing just a one-out single in the sixth and a single and walk in the seventh before striking out Casey Kettler to end the game and send Bellaire to the regional championship series next week.
However, much earlier in the day, it seemed unlikely that the Cardinals would even get to Game 3 of the semifinal series.
In Game 2, Bellaire had to overcome early defensive woes to rally from a 6-1 deficit and win, 7-6, thanks to late inning woes for Alvin's defense and pitching. Freshman Toller Boardman picked up the victory in 2-1/3 innings of scoreless relief and retired the side in order in the seventh inning.
At the start of the afternoon, it appeared Bellaire might be on the verge on being swept from the series, thanks to shaky defense that continued from Game 1 on Friday night.
"That's perplexing," Manuel admitted. "We work so hard on our defense and the defensive mistakes we were making…it's mind-boggling. We hadn't had an errorless game in three or four weeks, but as long as we win, I don't care how many errors we have."
All six of Alvin's runs in Game 2 were unearned. Mike Guerra reached on an error to start the game and scored on Snider's one-out single. After Bellaire had tied the game in the bottom half of the first inning, Guerra again reached on an error in the third and came around to score on Chris McDonald's two-out RBI single. Gross would follow with an RBI double to bring home two more unearned runs.
Then, in the top of the fifth inning, Alvin added three more runs, all of which scored after a two-out error by Bellaire shortstop Alex Silver opened the floodgates for the Yellowjackets. The error allowed Moe Giusto to reach and McDonald followed with a single to center that moved Giusto's pinch runner, Jack Johnson, to second.
Manuel then pulled starting pitcher Jeff Rohrbach in favor of Jared Rothenberg. But Rothenberg pitched to only two batters, hitting Andrew Gross with a pitch and walking Robert Hoffman to bring home a run, before being lifted for Matt Anderson.
Anderson's outing was shorter than Rothenberg's, as he threw four balls, including one for a wild pitch that plated McDonald, and walked the only batter he faced, pinch hitter Ryan Nolen.
Boardman then became Bellaire's fourth pitcher of the game and hit the first batter he faced, Izard, to bring home the third run of the inning. Boardman then got Guerra to ground out to end the inning and would settle down after that.
Meanwhile, the Cardinal bats came to life, starting in the bottom of the fifth. A double by Jeremy Schaffer followed by a single by Higgins put two men on and chased Alvin starter Aaron Stewart from the game. Travis Jenkins, Friday night's hero in relief, came in to try to shut down a Bellaire rally.
But the first batter Jenkins faced, Chaskin, drilled an RBI single up the middle to make it 6-2. One out later, Mercurio singled home Higgins to cut the Alvin lead to 6-3 after five innings.
Jenkins' control troubles in the sixth would again open the door for Bellaire, and the Cardinals took advantage. Walks to Minifee and Knoblauch were followed by an RBI single by Sean Washington. Yellowjacket coach Mike Rogers removed Jenkins in favor of Josh Land, but the momentum shift continued in Bellaire's favor.
Schaffer singled, Higgins was hit by a pitch, McCaleb singled and Mercurio reached on an error and when the dust had settled on the sixth inning, the Cardinals had plated four runs and taken a 7-6 lead.
Boardman retired the side quickly in the seventh to set up the Game 3 drama. And afterward Manuel summed up how he felt.
"Alvin has a good program and Coach Rogers has done a great job over there," stated Manuel, "and I'm not going to say we had them where we wanted them. But I will say this-Alvin didn't want to play a Game 3 today. But we did."
Bellaire will now play the Westside Wolves next week in a best-of-three series at Butler Complex's Ray Knoblauch Field. Westside swept Baytown Sterling to set up the all-HISD final. Exact dates and game times will be determined later.