Steers sweep Porcupines for first area championship since 2015

For the first time in five seasons, Steers baseball has advanced out of the area playoffs. In their second two-game sweep in two weeks, the Steers defeated Springtown to set up a best-of-three series against Stephenville.

Game One: Steers 12, Springtown 2

Porcupines starting pitcher Cristian Hernandez struggled with locating his pitches, allowing the Steers to take advantage. The Steers scored runs in each of the four innings he pitched, including a four-run outburst to run away with the game in the third inning. On the Steers’ defensive end, Ryan Grimsley threw one of the better games of his high school career. He got ahead early in several instances with 15 first-pitch strikes to 29 batters faced. In total, he threw strikes on 65 of 88 pitches.

The Steers bats were hot early and did not provide as much damage as they could have in the first inning. Landon Hebert, Ben Williams and Brodie Bates each reached base to open the game. The first run was scored when Corey Ballew was hit by the first pitch of his at-bat, giving the Steers a 1-0 lead. With the bases still loaded, Parker Johnson popped out to first base and Noah Jilek grounded into a double play to end the top half of the inning.

For the rest of the story, see the May 19 edition of The Graham Leader.