6A Baseball Playoffs: Sachse earns series win over Legacy
Published 3:00 pm Saturday, May 8, 2021
- Tyler Legacy pitcher Andrew Nick (13) takes the mound against the Sachse Mustangs during a game at Christus Trinity Mother Frances Mike Carter Field.
Sachse carried the momentum from a 4-3 win in 11 innings late on Friday night into Saturday’s Game 2.
The Mustangs got another strong pitching performance, error-free defense and timely hitting to take a 3-1 victory over the Tyler Legacy Red Raiders to sweep the Class 6A bi-district series Saturday afternoon at Christus Trinity Mother Frances Mike Carter Field.
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Nathan Darden allowed one run on five hits with four strikeouts and two walks in the complete-game effort.
“It kept us off-balanced a little,” Legacy head baseball coach James Boxley said. “He pounded the zone, but then he was a little outside of the zone with his breaking stuff, and we would chase. His fastball was pounding the zone, and he kept his pitch count down. We had fits with him, and we waited a little too long to kind of get him figured out.”
Legacy’s first hit came in the third inning with a single by Landon Langford. Darden picked Langford off of first and then got Preston Newberry and Tyler Priest to ground out to end the inning.
Legacy’s next baserunner came in the fifth inning when William Randall walked to lead off the inning. Sachse then turned a 6-4-3 double play on a grounder by Dakota McCaskill.
Langford led off the bottom of the sixth with a single for his second hit of the game as well as the Red Raiders’ second hit of the game. Jackson Newhouse came in as a pinch hitter and singled to give the Red Raiders two baserunners with just one out.
Darden then got Colby Harris, who popped out on the first pitch in his first two at-bats, to hit a ground ball to second base on the first pitch, and the Mustangs turned an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play to keep Legacy off of the board.
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In the bottom of the seventh, Ethan Smith flew out to left, and Cooper Hill flew out to center for two quick outs. Randall then doubled, and McCaskill followed with a walk. Andrew Nick singled to put the Red Raiders on the board, bringing Randall in to score. Langford then hit a liner to left field, and Davis Tea made a diving grab for the third out to complete the series sweep.
“They were really good defensively,” Boxley said. “They’ve got some guys that can go get the baseball and field their position really well. It was good competition against a good team. They’ve certainly got a chance to play a little while.”
Sachse (17-12-2) has won nine straight games and will face either Belton or Duncanville in the area round.
The Mustangs led off Saturday’s game with a single by Jhett Creel, who ended Friday’s game with a walk-off single in the bottom of the 11th. Creel moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and to third on a passed ball before scoring on a groundout by Jesse Ponce.
The Mustangs scored their second run in the fourth inning with a sacrifice fly by Cole Robertson. That was followed by Legacy turning a 1-6-5 double play.
Sachse added to its lead with an RBI single with two outs by Justin Kirby in the top of the sixth.
Andrew Nick pitched seven innings and allowed three runs on eight hits with two strikeouts and one walk.
“My guys competed,” Boxley said. “They competed all year long. My hat’s off to them. They had busted their tail since Day 1. It didn’t stop until it had to stop.
“It was a good year. You just never want it to end. You hope you can get a few trophies along the way. That’s the goal. We had a great group of guys.”
Legacy (20-10) will graduate 11 seniors — outfielder Kasen Carpenter, outfielder Samuel Carvajal, catcher Colby Harris, center fielder Tyler Hittle, outfielder Landon Langford, second baseman Austin McDaniel, pitcher/first baseman Jackson Newhouse, pitcher/third baseman Andrew Nick, pitcher/third baseman/outfielder William Randall, pitcher/shortstop Ethan Smith and first baseman Conner Yearty.