Steers baseball brings home wins from ACS tourney

The Graham Steers spent another weekend in tournament mode and found more success this time around after four games in the American Cancer Society tournament.

Over the course of the two-day tournament, the Steers played four games and came away with a 3-1 record. The team has continued to improve and grow since the season started with many games yet to play.

Listed below are results, write-ups and some stats from each of the Steers’ four matchups over the weekend of Thursday, Feb. 29 to Friday, March 1.

Steers v. Wichita Falls Old High, (W) 7-6

The first game of the weekend for the Steers was a bit of a roller coaster affair. Graham went up 1-0, got down 2-1, took a 5-2 lead, allowed Old High to tie it 5-5 and eventually the Steers pulled ahead and held on for the 7-6 win.

Junior Harison Brockway had the hit that scored fellow junior Bruin Wright after Wright had stolen second and third base to get himself in an excellent position to score. The RBI put the team up 6-5 in the fourth inning.

Wright earned the win on the mound with 3.1 innings pitched, one hit and one earned run allowed while striking out four batters. Taylor went 2-for-3 with an RBI while Johnson went 1-for-3 with two runs scored.

Steers v. Canyon, (L) 10-2

It was a bit of a tough game all around for Graham in their loss to the Canyon Eagles. Pitchers struggled on the mound, allowing 10 runs (seven earned) and walking nine batters.

The Steers scored first in the game as they broke through in the top of the third inning after junior Colter Johnson had an RBI groundout to score junior Levi Jilek. Sophomore Tripp Mahaney singled, advanced to second base on a wild pitch and then came around to score on an RBI single from Taylor.

Mahaney and Taylor combined for all four of the team’s hits in the game as they each went 2-for-3 in the loss.

Steers v. Bridgeport, (W) 15-2

After struggling offensively in their last game the day before, the Steers’ offense exploded for the win over the Bulls.

Brockway pitched the whole game for Graham, as he threw four innings, gave up five hits and two runs (neither earned) and struck out four batters.

Scoring came in bunches for the Steers as they racked up two runs in the first inning, seven runs in the third inning and six more in the fifth inning.

Senior Tate Loesch went 1-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs, Brockway went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Wright finished 1-for-2 with two walks and two runs scored.

Steers v. Covenant Christian, (W) 6-4

To finish out their weekend, the Steers earned a solid win over Covenant Christian.

It was a bit of a rocky start, however, as Milton allowed all four of the Cougars’ runs in the first inning, three of which were earned. He settled down after that and held Covenant Christian scoreless over the next three innings before Thompson entered to finish out the last two innings.

Wright doubled in the first to score Thompson and cut into the lead. But it wasn’t until the fourth inning that the Steers broke out and overtook the Cougars. Graham hit five singles with a sacrifice fly mixed in to take a 5-4 lead in the game.

Loesch went 3-for-3 in the game with two runs scored, Wright went 2-for-3 with a run scored and two RBIs and Thompson finished 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored.