By Robert Morgan | Published Sunday, April 19, 2009
If the Decatur High School baseball team is to earn an 11th straight trip to the Class 3A state playoffs, it needs for the second half of district play to be as successful as the first.
The Eagles took the first step Tuesday night in Burkburnett where they made the rematch look a little easier than the first meeting three weeks ago. They littered Bulldog field with 10 hits and played solid defense en route to a 5-0 victory.
Decatur scored in only two of the seven innings, but that's all it needed. The locals scored three times in their first at bat and tacked on two late runs.
Jake Connally and Justin Tompkins did not give Burkburnett anything to work with as they allowed just four hits on the night. Connally pitched a little more than five innings to earn the win.
The victory allowed Decatur to remain in sole possession of first place in District 5-3A at 6-1. The Bulldogs slipped into third place with Bridgeport at 4-3.
Brennan Moore provided the bulk of the offense as he ripped two doubles and scored on both trips on the base. Andrew Gage finished with just one hit but he knocked in three of the five runs to give Decatur a 3-0 lead in the first inning.
Decatur played solid defense to keep the Bulldogs scoreless throughout. The group added two more runs in the seventh inning to erase any rally hopes Burk might have entertained.
Chad Harrison, Francisco Perez and Tompkins gave Burk problems as well as they went two for three at the plate.
Decatur took advantage of nine errors and nine hits on Saturday to rout Iowa Park 16-5. Perez led the way offensively with two hits, while Harrison blasted a triple and Zach Gage, Andrew Gage, Connally and Colton Parker had doubles.
District 5-3A standings
Team Overall Dist. Decatur 13-8 6-1 Burkburnett 13-12 3-4 Bridgeport 12-7 3-2 Vernon 15-10 5-2 Iowa Park 4-15 1-6 Hirschi 2-17 0-7
