That was great news for all three Canyon ISD teams.
Friday afternoon, West Plains and Canyon kept pace with first-place Randall in their respective games. With the first half of district play ending after next Tuesday’s games, the stage looks set for them to make runs toward the postseason.
The most decisive win came at West Plains, who took a big early lead over Pampa and coasted to a 16-4 five-inning 10-run mercy rule win. Canyon had rather the opposite game with pitching taking centerstage, but still beat Dumas 5-0 to keep sole possession of second place, a game ahead of West Plains.
Put aside two one-run losses in the final at-bat to Canyon and Randall to open district play, and West Plains (17-5, 4-2 in district) would be sitting alone atop the district. A case could be made that the Wolves have been playing better than anybody else in 4-4A since then.
They jumped on Pampa (5-12, 1-5) from the beginning, as Bradley Cepeda led off the bottom of the first with a triple to right-center and scored on Bryton Bertrand’s single. Cepeda set the tone offensively for West Plains, going 4-for-4 and falling a home run short of the cycle. He scored four runs and drove in four more.
In the second, the Wolves howled with two outs to break the game open. Five straight batters reached base, aided by an error which led to four unearned runs.
Garrett Hamilton capped the inning with a grand slam to left for a 9-0 lead which ended any illusions of a competitive outcome.
West Plains again struck with two outs in the third as Cepeda singled home Jeremy Gutierrez for a 10-0 lead which got Barton pulled from the game. A passed ball and an error resulted in three more runs and a 13-0 lead.
Aguilera threw only three innings but was dominant, striking out six and allowing only a single to left by Barton in the first. Pampa averted a shutout as Isaiah Anguiano and Barton hit two-run homers in the fourth and fifth innings respectively, but it wasn’t enough to avoid a run-rule decision.
The top three spots in the West Plains lineup were the difference offensively. No. 2 hitter Ethan Bentley walked and scored three times and capped the scoring with an RBI double to bring home Cepeda in the fourth. No. 3 hitter Bertrand also scored three runs.
Offense was far more scant in Canyon, and it all landed on the side of the Eagles (16-4-1, 5-1), who stayed in second place.
Bayler Schilling set the tone on the mound for Canyon, scattering five hits over five innings and walking none. Colt Cruth closed it out for the Eagles by throwing two shutout innings to maintain the shutout.
The Eagles got the only run they needed when Sam Johnson’s single in the third inning drove in Christian McGuire for a 1-0 lead. Johnson had two hits and drove in two runs for Canyon and McGuire also had two hits and stole two bases.
Dumas (6-14, 2-4) got a solid mound showing from Sadler Wieck, who threw 4 1/3 innings and gave up two unearned runs but got no support.
Randall blanks Borger to stay atop district
Canyon knew that the best it could do Friday afternoon was stay in second place in district because of what Randall did Thursday afternoon.
The Raiders continued their roll of the last two seasons in 4-4A, as they shut out Borger 5-0 to remain unbeaten in district play. It seemed like Canyon would repeat that formula the next day.
Left-hander Carson Haffner was dominant on the mound for Randall (12-10, 6-0), pitching a complete-game three-hit shutout. Haffner struck out 11 and walked only one.
For good measure, Haffner also had three hits. Kameron Johnson had two hits and drove in two runs for Randall and Dylan Ray had two hits.
Borger fell to 5-12-1 and 1-5.
In the other district 4-4A game, Hereford defeated Perryton 8-2.
District 3-5A
Amarillo High crushes Caprock to stay perfect in 3-5A
Amarillo High kept cruising in district play Thursday afternoon, as the Sandies rolled to a 16-0 five-inning run-rule win at Caprock. It was the second time this week Amarillo High has blanked the Longhorns, as the Sandies (16-8, 6-0) completed a season sweep of Caprock (5-13, 1-5).
Will Flaming was the hitting star for the Sandies, going 3-for-3 and driving in four runs, including a two-run homer. The Sandies scored 13 runs in the second inning to decide the outcome early.
Mello Castillo had two hits and drove in two runs for the Sandies and Jimmy Escajeda and Clayton Norrell also had two hits. Norrell pitched five innings for the win, scattering five hits and walking none while striking out nine.
Tascosa beats Plainview
Tascosa made a statement Thursday in its final game of the season against Plainview, taking an early lead and holding on for a 6-3 win and avoid a season sweep for a big road victory.
The Rebels (6-14, 3-3) scored three runs in the top of the first and never trailed. Sophomore Coltyn Fulton had a big day at the plate with two hits and four RBIs. Andrew Merrell and Kyler Westenburg also had two hits apiece.
Charlie McKinney pitched six innings for the win over Plainview (10-13, 4-2), giving up only two hits and one earned run, while Jacob Cunningham pitched the final inning for the save.
District 1-3A
Bushland routs Friona
The Bushland Falcons scored their second straight run-rule win to open district, scoring 13 runs in the second inning to destroy Friona 24-0 in five innings to stay unbeaten in district.
Bushland (15-2-1, 2-0) led 3-0 after the first inning, but erased all doubt after concluding the second inning with a 16-0 lead. Ty Purcell led the Falcons by going 3-for-4 and driving in six runs.
Breken Adams drove in four runs, Jaxon Fetsch knocked in three and Max Rodriguez brought home two as Bushland had 20 hits.
The Falcons haven’t given up a run in two district games. Dimmitt gained its first win in district by handling River Road 23-1, and Dalhart blanked Tulia 17-0.
District 1-2A
Sunray, Gruver get victories
Sunray got everything it could handle from West Texas High, but the Bobcats were able to put together a five-run seventh inning to pull away from the Comanches for a 12-7 victory at the Comanches Baseball Complex on Friday.
Sunray held an early 5-0 lead only to see WT High battle back with a four-run third inning cutting the deficit to 5-4. After the Bobcats went back up 7-4, the Comanches answered once again with one run in the fourth and two in the fifth to tie the game, 7-7.
But in the top of the seventh Sunray took the lead for good when Conner Petereit scored on a throwing error. The Bobcats then tacked on to that lead on a three-run triple by Mason Gray.
Azriel Vargas led Sunray going 3-for-4 with a homer, a double to finish with two RBIs. Vargas also worked 3.1 inning allowing one run with nine strikeouts to get the win.
The Bobcats remain all alone atop District 1-2 at 5-0 while improving to 9-3 overall. WT High falls to 2-3 in district and 6-8.
Gruver picked up another district win by handling Booker 16-6 on Friday.
Pake Babbs went 2-for-3 for the Greyhounds with a triple and drove in two runs. Colt Mathews had a two-run double, and Briggs Satterfield scored three times in the game.
Gruver (7-4 overall) is now 3-1 in district. Booker (4-2) slips to 2-2 in the league.
In the other league game Friday, Sanford-Fritch beat Boys Ranch 9-5.
District 2-2A
Clarendon, Wellington breeze to victories
Playing crossover games on Friday which count toward the overall records but not the district standings, Clarendon and Wellington nabbed victories.
The Broncos look to be the team to beat in District 2-2A after getting a convincing 11-4 win against Claude. Easton Frausto had three RBIs at the plate for the Broncos and threw a complete game allowing one earned run with nine K’s.
Wellington run-ruled Valley 15-1 on Friday. Caleb Strickland had a double with a total of two RBIs. Major Brown was equally impressive going 3-for-4 with a double and scored two runs.