Steers baseball struggles on road at Glen Rose

On a cold and cloudy day on the road in Glen Rose, the Graham Steers dealt with struggles all around as they took a 10-1 loss Tuesday, April 9 to the Tigers.

With poor weather in the forecast, the game moved up a few hours to ensure the teams could fit it in. But the game time change didn’t make much of a difference as the home team Tigers ran away with the win.

Graham kept the game somewhat close through the first four innings as they trailed 4-1 heading into the fifth. But Glen Rose put together a strong offensive attack in their half of the fifth and racked up six runs to push the lead to 10-1 where it would stay until the end.

The Steers’ pitching staff, normally one of the strengths of the team, struggled with control issues and an inability to find the big outs when they needed them. Graham’s defense didn’t help much as the team committed four errors to go along with the other difficulties.

It was a game the team will look to put in their rearview mirror as they near the end of the regular season. The Steers currently sit at 11-11 on the season, with a 4-5 record in district play. After Friday’s home matchup with the Tigers, Graham will wrap up the district schedule with two games against Mineral Wells next week.

For the visiting Steers, it seemed like a day when nothing would go right. Glen Rose had an answer for just about everything Graham threw at them. The Steers managed to scrape together three hits and scored their only run in the third inning, when the Tigers led 2-0 at the time.

The team hoped the run would spark some momentum as they cut into the deficit when Ryder Taylor hit a double to left field with one out. Taylor stole third base and came in to score when the throw from Glen Rose’s catcher was off target and skipped into left field to make it 2-1.

But that was the closest Graham would get, as Glen Rose scored two more runs in their half of the fourth inning and then had their big outburst in the fifth. In the six-run inning, the Tigers never hit anything harder than a single, but their walks and timely hitting helped extend their lead.

As the team moves on from this defeat, Graham prepares for two matchups with the Mineral Wells Rams. The Steers defeated the Rams earlier this season in their lone matchup with them by a score of 4-3.

Barring anything drastic, the Steers have firmly secured a spot in the playoffs, but their position in the final district rankings will be determined by next week’s outcomes. Graham will face the Rams at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 16 and the regular season finale will be Friday, April 19.