Steers fall in district-opener to Stephenville

The Graham Steers opened their district schedule with one of the tougher teams they’ll face all year in the Stephenville Yellow Jackets. Facing a stiff challenge on the road, the Steers fell 5-0 in their first district game Tuesday, March 5.

Coming into the matchup, Graham (4-6, 0-1 in district) was going up against the ninth-ranked team in 4A in Stephenville (7-3-1, 1-0 in district), according to the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association.

The starting pitcher for the Yellow Jackets posed a number of problems for the Steers, but they still managed to have competitive at bats against him. The Steers just ran out of time and opportunities to break through against one of the better pitchers they’ll face all season.

Stephenville jumped out to an early lead in the game against Graham starting pitcher Ryder Taylor. After Taylor got the leadoff man to ground out, four of the next five Yellow Jackets got on base with a single, a walk and two doubles to score three quick runs.

Trailing 3-0 after one inning is never an easy situation to be in, and the Steers had their work cut out for them the rest of the game. While Graham put together quality at bats against Stephenville’s starter, the team didn’t record its first hit until the fourth inning when Tripp Mahaney led off with a double deep over the head of the center fielder. But the Steers couldn’t make anything happen with their first hit of the game and continued with the 3-0 deficit.

“I know the stats aren't going to show it, but I thought we battled at the plate. (We) had some long ABs; that's a good pitcher,” head coach Allen McGee said. “Two weeks from now instead of hitting some rollovers those might find the gap. I saw a lot of competing in the kids; they didn't quit.”

Following the first inning struggles, Taylor settled down and pitched a strong five innings in total. After the first inning in which he gave up three runs and three hits, he didn’t allow another hit until his fifth inning of work. It was a long triple that turned into his fourth earned run, but he kept his team in the game the entire time.

“I thought Ryder (Taylor) threw the ball extremely well today on the mound. We just got to bail him out and make some plays for him,” McGee said.

Graham’s best chance to score came in the sixth inning when Mahaney reached on an error and Taylor singled to put men on first and second with two outs. But with Tate Loesch batting, the Steers put on a double steal and Mahaney was thrown out trying to take third base to end the inning.

Bruin Wright came into the game in relief of Taylor and allowed an earned run in his only inning of work while striking out one batter. In the Steers’ final opportunity of the game, they went down in order and Stephenville secured their first district win.

“We got to continue just to hunt for our pitch. There was a stretch there where we did really well and then there was a stretch where we kind of didn't,” McGee said. “Overall, I'm proud of the way they competed. We just got to find a way to take that next step this season and we'll get there. It's just a growing process.”

Taylor pitched five innings in which he allowed four earned runs and struck out three batters. He also had one of the Steers’ three hits as he finished 1-for-3 at the plate. Mahaney went 1-for-2 with a walk and Mason Milton had the team’s other hit as he finished 1-for-2.

The Steers competed in their final tournament of the regular season this weekend in Graham and their next game will be their district home-opener Wednesday, March 13 against Brownwood at 7 p.m.