FORNEY—TheSulphur Springs Wildcats’ season came to a heartbreaking end over the weekend, after losing Games 2 and 3 of their Class 4A/D1 Area playoff series against the Lindale Eagles. Despite winning the first game, the Wildcats couldn’t seal the deal in the series, allowing Lindale to pull off a series comeback and end their season for the third consecutive year.
GAME 2 LINDALE 7 SULPHUR SPRINGS 3 The Wildcats stepped up to the plate first, and went down in order after Deacon Carpenter grounded out, Jaxon Virgel hit a pop fly ball for an out and Lane Fouse grounded out.
The Eagles came to the plate next, facing Corbin Argenbright on the mound. Lindale immediately loaded the bases on a pair of singles and a hit by pitch. An error on the next at-bat brought home two runs, as the Eagles took a 2-0 lead.
An RBI single followed, as Lindale extended their lead to 3-0. After the next batter was hit by a pitch, a sacrifice fly ball brought home another run, as the Eagles’ lead now stood at 4-0. The next batter lined out into a double play, ending the inning.
The second inning opened with Argenbright grounding out. After Sam Gamblin hit a single, the Wildcats’ turn ended after Ryan Karr grounded out and Cesar Mondragon hit a fly ball for an out.
The bottom of the second inning began with a ground out and a fly out. After a single, a pop out brought the inning to a close.
The third inning began with Alex Whittle hitting a double. Mason Davis then reached base on an error, and Whittle scored, trimming the deficit to 4-1.
Three straight outs followed when Carpenter grounded into a fielder’s choice, where Davis was tagged out at third base, Virgel grounded out and Fouse struck out.
The Eagles went down in order during the bottom of the third inning, following a ground out and a pair of pop outs.
The fourth inning opened with both Argenbright and Gamblin grounding out. Following back-to-back singles by Karr and Mondragon, Sulphur Springs’ turn ended when Whittle lined out.
The bottom of the fourth inning started with a pop out. After the next batter reached base on an error, the following batter hit a sacrifice bunt to move the runner to second base.
An RBI double followed, as the Eagles extended their lead to 5-1. Following a hit by pitch, a ground out ended the inning.
The fifth inning started with Davis reaching bases on catcher’s interference. Carpenter then launched a two-run home run, in which Davis also scored, to reduce Lindale’s lead to 5-3.
Consecutive outs followed, when Virgel hit a fly ball for an out and Fouse lined out. After Argenbright hit a single, Gamblin hit a fly ball for an out, ending the Wildcats’ turn.
The bottom of the fifth inning began with a single. From there, three straight outs followed on a pair of fly outs and a fielder's choice.
The Wildcats were retired in order to start the sixth inning: Karr hit a pop fly ball for an out, Mondragon grounded out and Whittle struck out.
The bottom of the sixth inning started with a double and an error. An RBI single followed, as the Eagles extended their lead to 6-3.
After another single, the next batter grounded into a double play, but a run was also scored, making the score 7-3. A ground out followed, ending the inning.
The Wildcats went down in order once again during the seventh inning, as Mason Stillwagoner struck out, and both Carpenter and Virgel grounded out. With that, Lindale polished off a 7-3 win and tied the series at 1-1, necessitating Game 3.
As a team, the Wildcats batted six for 28 (.214) from the plate. Argenbright Carpenter, Gamblin, Karr, Mondragon and Whittle all recorded one hit each.
Carpenter, Davis and Whittle scored one run each.
Argenbright suffered the loss on the mound. Across six innings, he surrendered nine hits and seven runs (four earned).
GAME 3 LINDALE 5 SULPHUR SPRINGS 3 The Eagles stepped up to the plate first, facing Whittle on the mound. Lindale went down in order, following a pair of strikeouts and a line out.
The Wildcats came to the plate next. Their turn began with Carpenter hitting a pop fly ball for an out.
After Virgel struck out, Fouse drew a walk. Following a single by Argenbright, Gamblin brought Fouse home on an RBI single, giving the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. Karr then struck out, ending the inning.
The Eagles went down in order once again to start the second inning, following a pair of ground outs and a pop out.
The bottom of the second inning started with Mondragon reaching base on an error. From there, three consecutive outs followed: Whittle, Davis and Carpenter all struck out.
The third inning opened with a strikeout. The Eagles then gained runners on a double and a single. Another out followed when a runner was caught stealing second base.
A wild pitch followed, bringing home a runner and tying the score at 1-1. The next batter struck out, ending Lindale’s turn.
The bottom of the third inning started with Virgel hitting a single, and he later stole second base. Unfortunately, three consecutive outs followed when Fouse popped out into a double play, where Virgel failed to tag up before advancing to third base, and Argenbright grounded out.
The Eagles were retired in order to start the fourth inning, following a fly out, a strikeout and a pop out.
The bottom of the fourth inning began with Gamblin grounding out. After Karr hit a single, Mondragon grounded into a double play, ending the inning.
The fifth inning started with a strikeout. After the next batter walked, another strikeout followed.
An RBI single brought a run home, as the Eagles took a 2-1 lead. The next batter grounded out, ending Lindale’s turn.
The bottom of the fifth inning opened with Whittle hitting a single. Davis then hit a sacrifice bunt, to move Whittle to second base. Another runner was gained when Carpenter walked.
Virgel then hit a fly ball for an out, but managed to move the runners to third and second bases. Fouse then brought Whittle and Carpenter home on a two-RBI double, giving the Wildcats a 3-2 lead. Argenbright then grounded out to end the inning.
The sixth inning kicked off with a pop out and a strikeout. From there, Whittle was relieved by Argenbright on the mound. A pop out followed, ending the Eagles’ turn.
The Wildcats went down in order during the bottom of the sixth inning, after Gamblin and Karr grounded out, and Mondragon hit a pop fly ball for an out.
The seventh inning began with the Eagles gaining runners on a single and a hit by pitch. From there, Argenbright was relieved by Carpenter on the mound.
After a strikeout, a wild pitch brought home a run, as the Eagles tied the score at 3-3. After a walk, a sacrifice fly ball brought home another run, giving the Eagles a 4-3 lead.
An RBI single followed, as Lindale extended their lead to 5-3. Tyce Bradford then relieved Carpenter on the mound, and got the final out of the inning on a fielder’s choice.
The Wildcats were retired in order during the bottom of the seventh inning after Whittle hit a pop fly ball for an out, and both Stillwagoner and Carpenter grounded out. With that, the Eagles won the game, 5-3 and the series, 2-1, ending Sulphur Springs’ season.
As a team, the Wildcats batted six for 25 (.240) from the plate. Argenbright, Fouse, Gamblin, Karr, Virgel and Whittle recorded one hit each. Carpenter, Fouse and Whittle scored one run each.
Whittle started the game on the mound. Across 5⅔ innings, he struck out eight batters and allowed just three hits, two runs (one earned) and one walk.
Argenbright suffered the loss in his ⅓ of an inning, allowing two earned runs and one hit. Carpenter pitched ⅔ of an inning, conceding one hit, one earned run and one walk, while striking out one batter. Bradford got the final out in the seventh inning.
SEASON OVER
With these losses, the Wildcats’ season has come to an end. They conclude the season with an overall record of 21-11-1, finishing as district runners-up, Bi-District Champions and Area finalists.
Game 3 marked the final high school baseball game for five senior Wildcats: Argenbright, Fouse, Karr, Connor Quick and Justin Strickland. The Wildcats will look to improve in the off-season and make a deeper playoff run next year.