Steers’ season ends with 4-2 loss to Rams News Staff Tue, 04/23/2024 - 10:47 am
- (TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Graham’s Tripp Mahaney slides into home plate to score a run while just beating the throw home during the Steers’ final game of the season. The Steers were fighting for a playoff spot but ended up with a 4-2 loss to end their year.
- (TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Graham second baseman Tate Loesch stands in the box ready to swing during the Steers’ 4-2 loss at Mineral Wells last Friday, April 19.
- (TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Graham shortstop Harison Brockway loads up to fire a throw to first base to try to get the batter out during the Steers’ 4-2 loss to Mineral Wells last Friday, April 19. The loss brought Graham’s season to an end.
- (TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Graham pitcher Bruin Wright winds up and prepares to deliver a pitch home during the team’s final game of the season against Mineral Wells. In a fight for a playoff spot, the Steers took a 4-2 loss Friday, April 19.
- (TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Steers third baseman Levi Jilek fields and ground ball and fires across the diamond to first base to get an out during Graham’s season finale against Mineral Wells last Friday, April 19. The Steers fought hard but took a 4-2 loss.
TC Gordon sports@grahamleader.com
Both teams came into their regular season finale with identical district records, the winner likely advancing to the playoffs while the loser’s season would end.
The Graham Steers fought hard and tried to rally late but ultimately came out on the losing end of their matchup with the Mineral Wells Rams. The home team Rams won 4-2 to send the Steers home.
Each of the three games these two teams played during the season were close, but Mineral Wells took two out of the three to win the series. Graham won the first matchup 4-3 but dropped the next two in the final week of the year.
Graham’s team finished the season with an overall record of 11-14 and a district record of 4-8 to take fifth place in the standings. The Steers battled in every game they played but couldn’t pull out the necessary wins to move forward.
“Obviously, not what we were planning on at the beginning of the year,” head coach Allen McGee said. “These kids, they battled through some adversity. We had some things not go our way.”
Both teams’ starting pitchers battled back and forth through the first few innings of this matchup, with each throwing up zeros on the scoreboard. The Rams broke through first in the bottom of the third inning thanks to a walk, a fielding error and a single to take a 1-0 lead.
One thing Graham has done well this year is answer opposition like that. In the top of the fourth inning, Tripp Mahaney led off with a walk and moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt from Bruin Wright.
Ty Thompson singled to left field to put runners on the corners and then the Steers dialed up the double steal. Thompson took off for second, the Rams catcher threw down and as Thompson danced between first and second base, Mahaney took off for home and slid in just ahead of the tag to tie the game at 1-1.
It wasn’t until the fifth inning that Mineral Wells retook the lead. Their first two hitters reached base — an issue Graham dealt with in multiple innings this year — and those two runners came around to score.
An inning later, the Rams extended their lead to 4-1 which gave the Steers just one final inning to try to tie the game or take the lead.
Tate Loesch led off the inning with a walk but the next two hitters made quick outs to put the pressure on. Colter Johnson kept the inning and game alive with a hard-hit double over the right fielder’s head which allowed Loesch to score and cut the lead to 4-2. However, Graham couldn’t make anything else happen as the game and their season came to a close.
“At the end of the day, we’ve got to be better — myself included — we’ve got to get back to the Graham Steer way,” McGee said. “... We went and beat everybody in the district one time, we just couldn’t ever get that second win to win the series. There was some maturity and growth with a lot of guys. Like I said, we’ve just got to get back to who we are.”
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