By Caleb Adams

Leader Correspondent

 

LITTLE CYPRESS — —The Little Cypress-Mauriceville Battlin’ Bears had a great comeback to beat the Bridge City Cardinals 5-3 in a thrilling back and forth District 22-4A game Tuesday night at Don Gibbens Field.

The Bears (15-5, 2-1) also locked down the 600^th win for their head coach Steve Griffith, a truly impressive win.

Both offenses found themselves with plenty of runners in scoring position, just unable to convert as many of those runs as they would like. The Cardinals (11-5-2, 3-1) would leave eight runners on through the first three innings alone. The Bears followed suit, leaving bases loaded multiple times.

The difference came late when the Bears’ offense finally broke through and put up a crooked number in the bottom of the sixth inning.

The Bears would convert in a big way, offensively, in the bottom of the sixth to take their first lead of the game. They strung together good at bats and situational hitting, combined with a few errors by the Cardinals, and that was the answer the Bears needed Tuesday night.

Neither pitching staff really took over the game for either team, but LC-M’s Max Dileo’s relief pitching did stem the Cardinal’s attempts in late inning scoring. Dileo’s ability to use the breaking ball for the majority of his pitches really kept the Bridge City lineup in check.

LC-M’s Ty Shugart popped the game open with a single to right field for the game’s first run in the bottom of the first. Ty Moreland would walk and advance to second off an error from the Cardinals outfield. Shugart would find a hole on the right side of the infield, bringing Moreland around to score. That’s all they would get, leaving two on base, but taking a 1-0 lead after one inning.

The Cardinals answered with their first runs, thanks to the long ball from Sam Carpenter, in the top of the third inning. Slade Foreman and Logan Hamm reached on walks, sitting on second and first when Carpenter came to the plate. He took a pitch to deep left center field, for his third homerun of the year. Bridge City would threaten with the bases loaded afterwards but nothing would come of it as the Cardinals took a 3-1 lead heading to the bottom of the third.

Dileo closed the gap with a long double to bring in another Bears run. Brett Burrows would walk just before Dileo’s at bat, on the hit Burrows scored all the way from first base to convert, making the score 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning. Leaving the bases loaded, the Bears still trailed by one heading into the fifth inning.

LC-M tied the game up in the bottom of the sixth, thanks to a double down the right field line. Taylor Gilbert would drive a hard double down the line to score Dileo, who reached on a single of his own. The Bears load the bases shortly after the first run and scored two more thanks to an error by the Cardinals. Gilbert and Jordan Alexander would score after the bad throw as the Bears took a 5-3 lead heading into the final inning of play.

The Bears will head to West Orange-Stark Friday to face the Mustangs while the Cardinals return home to welcome the Lumberton Raiders.