Midland Christian “Steals” 3-2 TAPPS Division II Semifinal Victory

For six innings it looked like “fourth time is a charm” for Ft Worth Christian but Midland Christian scored 3 runs in the top of the 7^th , including a steal of home for the go ahead run, to win the TAPPS Division II Semifinal Game 3-2.  Midland Christian now advances to the Division II Championship Game to face the winner of the Houston Second Baptist/Beaumont Kelly Catholic game.

Midland Christian had beaten Ft Worth Christian three times this year in Division II District 1 play.  But for most of the game, it looked like the Cardinals were going to break that streak.

Ft. Worth Christian picked up two runs in the bottom of the 1^st.  Payne Fontenot started the inning being hit by a pitch and with one out, Bryce Bradley singled.  Pitcher Coleman Allison’s single up the middle scored both players giving Ft Worth Christian the 2-0 lead.

After getting that lead, Allison was almost untouchable.  Through the sixth inning, he allowed only 4 baserunners-2 Hit Batters, a Single, and a Walk-after getting the 2-0 lead.  At one time, Allison had retired 10 batters in a row.

But Midland Christian was up for the challenge in their final inning.  Blake Pruitt led off the inning with a double and then scored on a Max Beckett ground out to cut Ft Worth Christian’s lead to 2-1.  Allison then got a fly out and the Cardinals were one out away from winning.

However, Connor Jordan doubled down the right field line and Brayden Renz was hit by a pitch, forcing a Ft Worth pitching change.  With runners on 1^st and 2^nd, pitcher AJ Velarde hit a single up the middle that scored Jordan and tied the game.  Cadon Griffin then walked to load the bases.  With Dawson Bullard at bat, Midland Christian Coach Bobby Mesker had Renz steal home on a 1-2 count and Renz made it in safely with a stolen base, giving Midland Christian the 3-2 lead.

Nick Ellis came in to pitch for Midland Christian in the 7^th.  He struck out the first batter, hit the next batter and then got two fly outs to pick up the save and secure a berth in the Division II Championship Game for Midland Christian.

Midland Christian Head Coach Bobby Mesker commented on the game: “This was not the same Ft Worth Christian team we played before.  We knew that when they beat Southwest Christian and Jackson Burns last week.  We considered ourselves 0-0 against this team and knew we were in for a dogfight.”  On steal of home by Renz: “I thought we had a good chance of doing that.  There were two outs and I knew at worst, we could hold them in the bottom of the 7^th and come back and score the next inning.”  On keys to the game: “I thought AJ getting out of that 6^th inning jam was huge because another run would have been a big deal.  He’s a competitive kid.  And his base hit with two outs to tie the game was just as big.”

Velarde pitched 6 innings and gave up 2 runs on 7 hits with 1 walk and 6 strikeouts.  He was the winning pitcher.  He was 1-3 at the plate with the game tying RBI.  For his performance, Velarde was named the THSB Player of the Game.

“No more runs,” Velarde explained about giving up 2 runs in the first inning.  “I got all the nerves out and I was just determined ‘No more runs the rest of the game.’”

THSB Player of the Game – A.J. Velarde

– Tim Baugh