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By Caleb Adams

Orange Leader

ORANGEFIELD – The Orangefield Bobcats fell to the Silsbee Tigers 7-5 in the District 22-4A opener for both squads Tuesday night, in what was an exciting back and forth game to open district play. The Tigers’ offense would explode later into the game and lead them to victory.

Logan Simmons would get the start for the Tigers (10-4-1, 1-0), and would go the distance and complete the game. He would go seven innings giving up seven hits, six walks and record six strikeouts while giving up five runs and the win. Simmons didn’t have a perfect game, but he kept his team in it once they got the lead, and made it very difficult for the Bobcats to produce runs.

The Bobcats (7-5-2, 0-1) offense would be led by Gunner Jones. He was able to drive in three runs from the plate with a couple clutch hits. Jones would go 2-for-3 with two singles and three RBI on the night. The Bobcats would make it a close one with a few good innings offensively, but they couldn’t keep up with the Tigers’ explosiveness this game.

The Tigers were led on offense by Kanon Sundgrin, who had one of the game’s biggest hits in the fifth inning. Sundgrin would go 2-for-3 with a single, a triple and a walk with three RBI. The triple would account for his RBI, coming in a clutch bases loaded situation in the fifth inning. His hit would propel them into a spot to come back and take the lead from the Bobcats.

The Bobcats struck first, getting their first hits and runs in the bottom of the second inning. Logan Gipson led off with a single to get things going, followed by a big double to left from Ryan Trahan to put runners on second and third base with just one out. Pitcher Bryce Bergeron helped himself at the plate with a single that brought in Gipson from third base and putrunners on the corners. A wild pitch brought home Trahan from third base for the second run as the Bobcats took a 2-0 lead at the end of the frame.

The Bobcats extended their lead in the bottom of the third inning. Tyler Shearin would reach thanks to a fielder’s choice and advanced to second after a bad throw to first base. Gunner Jones would drive one to shallow center, just enough for Shearin to race around from second and score. The Bobcats led 3-0 after three.

The Tigers got their first run, thanks to the Bobcats allowing a couple of walks. Quincy Kelly and Alex Uribe hit back to back singles to get things going and Taylor Wise hit a sacrifice bunt to move them over to second and third. A walk to Cash Glaze loaded the bases, and another walk to Chase Partain brought in the first run, and keept the bases loaded. Kanon Sundgrin would smack a long triple over the left fielder’s head and bounce off the fence. Uribe, Glaze and Partain would all score on the hit.

A tough grounder would extend the inning with another single that scored Sundgrin from third base but that enabled the Tigers to take a 5-3 lead.

The Bobcats used some small ball to set up a big hit to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth. Kameryn Henderson would bunt for a single, followed by Shearin bunting for a single as well. With runners on second and third, Jones drove one past the shortstop to bring in both Henderson and Shearin from second and third base, tying the game.

The Tigers went ahead to stay, thanks to a few errors from the Bobcat defense. Taylor Wise got on with a walk, followed by an error on a pick off attempt sending him all the way around to third base. Glaze would then reach on an error to put runners on the corners. A wild pitch in the next at bat would let Wise score from third.

The Tigers grab another run thanks to a sac fly from Logan Simmons to bring in Glaze from third base to go up 7-5.

The Bobcats would threaten in the bottom of the seventh, but come up short against the Tigers. Losing tough games are always hard in the moment, but the Bobcats can use this to learn and help prepare themselves for district games down the road.

The Bobcats will venture to Bridge City Friday to take on the Cardinals in an Orange County battle.