Tuesday night’s 4-1 loss to the Houston County Bears at Charles Wilson Field in Douglas was a tough one for the Coffee Trojans. When you have a team as good as the Bears on the ropes, you’ve got to put them away. If you let them hang around, they’ll make you pay.
And the Trojans let them hang around.
Houston scored their runs in two innings – the Bears pushed across two runs each in the third and seventh. All of their runs were scored with two outs.
Coffee, meanwhile, had opportunities but couldn’t take advantage of the good fortune they enjoyed. In the end, Houston left town with a big region win that really ups the ante for Coffee in this weekend’s doubleheader.
In the third, the Bears had runners on first and second with two outs when Isaiah Galason hit a hard grounder. An error moved everyone up and loaded the bases. Two consecutive walks scored the first two runs of the game.
The Trojans’ best opportunity came in the bottom of the sixth. Ben Fussell led off with a double. Jimmy Timothy followed with a single that scored Fussell. Barrett Harrell reached on a bunt, putting runners at first and second with nobody out. Gavin McElroy also bunted, advancing Harrell to second and Timothy to third. Coffee was in good position with two runners in scoring position and only one out.
However, Tyson Ganas, one of the state’s top pitching prospects, was unfazed. He struck out the next two Trojans to quell the rally.
In the seventh, the first two Bears went quietly. Then Kaiden Harvey singled, setting the stage for senior catcher Raymond Byrd. He connected on a 1-1 offering and homered to left, putting Houston up 4-1.
Fussell was 2-3 with a run. Timothy was 1-3 with an RBI. McElroy started and threw well enough to win. In five innings, he gave up two unearned runs on two hits. He struck out six and walked three. Evan Lingenfelter threw the last two innings. He surrendered two earned runs on three hits. He struck out one and didn’t walk anyone.
The Trojans went down in order in the bottom of the inning to drop to 5-5 in region play. They are 12-7 overall and face Houston again in a Friday afternoon doubleheader.
