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Ballhawking outfielders led the Brazos Valley Bombers to a 4-1 victory over the East Texas PumpJacks in Texas Collegiate League action Thursday night.
A strong breeze blowing in at Brazos Valley Bank Ballpark put a premium on singles. And those weren't easy to come by for the PumpJacks in key situations as Brazos Valley outfielders combined for four diving catches among their 11 putouts.
"If we don't catch them, they would have played a huge role in this game," said right fielder Chad Colbert.
Colbert, who will be a sophomore at Oklahoma, had the first defensive gem, and it was a throw, not a catch.
The PumpJacks had three straight one-out hits in the first inning for a 1-0 lead. Colbert caught J.D. Dunn's fly ball and threw out Matt Curry at the plate.
"I felt I should have stayed behind the ball a little more, but it felt good as soon as I let it go," Colbert said.
Colbert added a diving catch in the third. Center fielder Todd Cunningham ended that inning with another diving catch, preventing the PumpJacks from scoring at least one more run.
Left fielder Tyler Huesling had his diving catch in the sixth when the PumpJacks wasted a walk and a single.
"If we had missed any of those, it could have easily been 3-2 or 4-2 [East Texas]," Colbert said.
The PumpJacks were 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position after Paige Hodges' RBI single. East Texas didn't have any scoring chances in the last three innings as relievers Travis Dirk and Dustin Rasco retired eight straight batters to end the game.
Brazos Valley starting pitcher Shaun Siebert recovered from the first to allow only two hits in the next four innings for the victory.
The Bombers' infield was errorless as well, including a double play started by second baseman Anders.
"When we do things like that -- make a couple diving catches -- and make the routine plays, we're pretty good," Brazos Valley manager Brent Alumbaugh said. "This really was the first crisp game we've played all season."
Alumbaugh said six walks weren't good, but he was pleased the pitching and defense didn't allow the PumpJacks (6-9) to take advantage.
Brazos Valley (8-7) took the lead on Trey Sperring's two-run single in the third inning that scored Todd Cunningham and Nick Anders.
With two outs, East Texas right-hander Chad Sherman opted to pitch around Anders, his future Texas A&M teammate, who recently had a nine-game hitting streak.
Cunningham and Anders pulled off a double steal on the first pitch to Sperring, who eventually bounced a 2-2 pitch into center field.
The Bombers added two insurance runs in the seventh. Kip Masuda reached on an error. A walk and hit batsman -- Colbert was plunked on the head while preparing to bunt -- loaded the bases. Cunningham's groundout and Zach Grichor's single plated the runs.
NOTES -- The game's only extra-base hit was a bloop double by East Texas' Matt Curry in the first. ... Former A&M Consolidated standout Anders played junior college baseball the last two seasons for Temple College. Sherman, meanwhile, played at Panola College, but the two teams never faced each other. ... Sherman allowed four hits in three innings, striking out three and walking just Anders. ... The two teams will play at 7:05 p.m. Friday with fireworks afterward.
East Texas 100 000 000 -- 1 7 3
Brazos Valley 002 000 20x -- 4 6 0
Chad Sherman, Matt Shelton (4) and Logan Moro. Shaun Siebert, Travis Dirk (6), Dustin Rasco and Kip Masuda. W -- Siebert. L -- Sherman.
Leading hitters: East Texas -- Matt Curry and Keenan Duke 2 for 4 each; Brazos Valley -- Zach Grichor 2 for 4.
• Robert Cessna's e-mail address is robert.cessna@theeagle.com.
