Mistakes lead to Bulldogs’ first playoff loss

Drake

PLAY AT THE PLATE — Alvord catcher Cayson Stainton tags out Tolar’s Drake Owens, as the Bulldogs dropped Game 1 of the 2A Region II semifinal series to the Rattlers Wednesday, 5-1. MICAH MCCARTNEY/WCMESSENGER

Tied at 1 in the 2A Region II semifinal series opener Wednesday, the Alvord Bulldogs’ mistakes came back to bite them down the stretch. 

Top-ranked Tolar struck for four runs in the bottom of the sixth innings to take a 5-1 Game 1 win at Cleburne High School. 

“The farther you go into the playoffs, the smaller your window gets for making mistakes,” Alvord coach Spence Hayes said. “We just simply made too many mistakes in the field and on the base paths tonight. That’s eventually what got us. [Tolar] is a good team, and they’re not going to let you get away with many mistakes.” 

Alvord committed three fielding errors, producing two Rattler runs in the third and sixth frames. 

The Bulldogs were limited to two hits. Cayson Stainton and Rhett Stovall both went 1-for-3. Tolar’s Talan Brown finished with six strikeouts and two walks in a complete game effort against Alvord’s lineup. 

“A big part of what happened tonight was that [Brown] threw a great ball game,” Hayes said. “When he gets ahead of you in the count, he can be hard to hit. We’ve just got to be more aggressive to force the issue.” 

Camron Seiter surrendered five runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings, with two strikeouts and two walks. Dylan Henderson kept Tolar’s bats silent in his short relief outing.

“Camron did exactly what he’s done all year — he went up there and competed,” Hayes said. “He gave us a chance, but our mental mistakes behind him really hurt us.” 

The Bulldogs face a win-or-go-home scenario in Game 2 of the series 6:30 p.m. Thursday. If necessary, a tiebreaker will be played Saturday at a time to be announced.

Stovall will take the mound for the Bulldogs in the second game. In his last appearance, he gave up three hits and finished with five strikeouts and three walks in Alovrd’s 1-0 Game 2 regional quarterfinal win over Windthorst May 18. 

“Rhett’s a senior, so I know he’s not ready for this to be over,” Hayes said. “I expect him to go out there and compete to his best ability. We need to understand Game 1 is over and not worry about it anymore. We haven’t lost back-to-back games all year, and it’s a bad time to start doing that now. I think we’ll show up, respond and be OK.”