By Caleb Adams

Leader Correspondent

 

SOUR LAKE – Bridge City Cardinals take care of the Hardin-Jefferson Hawks 10-2 in District 22-4A actionon Tuesday night, and took one step closer to securing another district crown. With this win the Cardinals sweep the Hawks on the season and need just one more win to lock up first place in the district.

From the get-go the Cardinals (18-6-2, 9-1) were playing like the district was on the line, and it was. Both teams sat atop the standings entering the game, and this game virtually decided who takes the number one spot heading into playoffs.

Peyton Havard showed up big for the Cardinals again with a great outing aside from one inning that got away from him. Could even say he got better with each inning, building up to a fifth inning where he sat the side down on strikes and the sixth where he recorded two more. Havard had ten strikeouts, gave up four hits, three walks and went six and two thirds innings on 109 pitches for the win.

On the offensive side Jackson Tims stood out for the Cardinals. He went three for three with an RBI and two runs scored on three singles and a walk. Logan Hamm also had a day going three for five with a double and two singles, two RBI’s and a run scored. These two led the way for the Cardinal offense to take over.

Bridge City came out firing with two back to back hits and an early run to get the first lead of the game in the top of the first inning. Logan Hamm knocked a hard double to the left field wall, Tanner Wilson bunted a single to move Hamm to third base. Peyton Havard would reach after an error from the Hawks (13-9, 8-2), and Hamm found his way home.

With one out in the same inning Jackson Tims reaches on an infield single and score Wilson from third base. Cameron Yadon hit a high popup to let Havard score from third base to keep the early rally going for the Cardinals. Kade Benoit would hit a bouncer to short but out ran the throw to first to score the innings fourth run and hit. The Cardinals exploded in the top of the first and took a comfortable lead at 4-0 over the Hawks.

Bridge City added to its lead after a couple back to back hits. Sam Carpenter reached with a leadoff walk and Deagan King pinch ran for him. Tims reached on a bunt single, moving King to third base. Yadon would hit another sac fly to deep right and scored King from third base. Cace Skinner would smack a single to left field to drive in Tims from second base as the Cardinals tooke a 6-0 lead over the Hawks heading to the bottom of the third.

The Hawks found their first run in the bottom of the third inning. Landon McLeod reached base on an error and pushed to second after a walk from Gavin Boles. Justin Smith would drive in McLeod from second base after the Cardinal outfielder couldn’t get the throw in on time. Bryce Jewell would knock a single on the next at bat for the second run of the inning, driving in Boles from second base as the Hawks shrunk the lead to 6-2 for the Cardinals after the third inning was done.

The Cardinals created more offense at the top of the lineup in the sixth. Hamm knocked in Slade Foreman from third base, who reached on a walk and stole his way to third. That’s all the runs the Cards would find, but they extended their lead to 7-2 heading into the bottom of the sixth.

Cace Skinner and Jaxon Bernard both brought in more runs for the Cardinals to cushion their already big lead. Skinner would squeeze bunt Tims in from third base and Bernard would knock in Yadon from third on the next at bat. Both Tims and Yadon reached on walks. Hamm would also connect on another ball and send the third run home for them. Cardinals lead 10-2 heading into the final frame of play.

Cardinals can clinch first place in the district with a win on the road at Lumberton Thursday.