River Oaks Examiner - Sports
TASO title raises expectations for Lamar baseball
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| Lamar's Tyler Duffie threw four innings against Bellaire. |
By JEREMY RAKES
Lamar and Bellaire renewed their baseball rivalry Saturday at the Texas Association of Sports Officials baseball championship game, and just like last year, the Redskins came out on top in a hotly contested game.
Played before a few hundred fans at Minute Maid Park, the contest was knotted at three heading into the sixth, but errors by Bellaire along with good Lamar pitching led to the 7-3 Redskins win.
“I think the most important thing is with hurricane victims in that these guys were able to stay focused because I know it was on their minds living down here,” said Lamar fall ball coach Vinny Sinisi. “A lot of their friends were without power. It was really fulfilling to have them take the field and do what they did. For them to stay focused for the three weeks with all the adversity is tremendous.”
The game was originally scheduled for Sept. 20.
Lamar took a 2-0 lead on a 2-run single by Michael Resnick in the first, and Cole Lankford scored to make it 3-0 on a balk. After the Cards fought back to tie the score in the fifth, Judson Bartlett hit an RBI single in the sixth to give Lamar a 4-3 lead.
Lankford scored off an error in the seventh, and Resnick capped the scoring with a two-run inside the park home run in the seventh when he sent a pitch deep to center field and off Tal’s Hill 436 feet away. Resnick slid into home just before the throw.
“It was interesting. At the at-bat, I was looking for a curveball, but he threw me a fastball that was up,” Resnick said. “As soon as I hit it, I knew it wasn’t a home run, but I hustled out of the box which allowed me to make it home.”
Senior Tyler Duffie started for Lamar going four innings giving up two runs on two hits with five strikeouts, and Neal Dennison got the win going three scoreless innings with four strikeouts.
“Our pitching kept us in it,” Sinisi said. “We just ask our defense to keep us in it and to get a guy on second base every inning when we are on offense, and we did that almost every inning. Very fulfilling.”
Dennison said he enjoyed the experience of playing against Bellaire and winning and going 6-0 through the fall.
“It’s great to know that this is the team that will probably go into the spring,” Dennison said. “We played really well, and it showed in our victory.”
With last year’s regional quarterfinal exit from the playoffs still on their mind, Lamar’s players want to take it one step further in the spring.
“We made it here last year, and it was a thrill just to sit in the dugout because I didn’t play,” Resnick said. “This year playing is a whole different story. because it is like you are here in a Major League ballpark playing your biggest rivals and you come out with a victory.”
Played before a few hundred fans at Minute Maid Park, the contest was knotted at three heading into the sixth, but errors by Bellaire along with good Lamar pitching led to the 7-3 Redskins win.
“I think the most important thing is with hurricane victims in that these guys were able to stay focused because I know it was on their minds living down here,” said Lamar fall ball coach Vinny Sinisi. “A lot of their friends were without power. It was really fulfilling to have them take the field and do what they did. For them to stay focused for the three weeks with all the adversity is tremendous.”
The game was originally scheduled for Sept. 20.
Lamar took a 2-0 lead on a 2-run single by Michael Resnick in the first, and Cole Lankford scored to make it 3-0 on a balk. After the Cards fought back to tie the score in the fifth, Judson Bartlett hit an RBI single in the sixth to give Lamar a 4-3 lead.
Lankford scored off an error in the seventh, and Resnick capped the scoring with a two-run inside the park home run in the seventh when he sent a pitch deep to center field and off Tal’s Hill 436 feet away. Resnick slid into home just before the throw.
“It was interesting. At the at-bat, I was looking for a curveball, but he threw me a fastball that was up,” Resnick said. “As soon as I hit it, I knew it wasn’t a home run, but I hustled out of the box which allowed me to make it home.”
Senior Tyler Duffie started for Lamar going four innings giving up two runs on two hits with five strikeouts, and Neal Dennison got the win going three scoreless innings with four strikeouts.
“Our pitching kept us in it,” Sinisi said. “We just ask our defense to keep us in it and to get a guy on second base every inning when we are on offense, and we did that almost every inning. Very fulfilling.”
Dennison said he enjoyed the experience of playing against Bellaire and winning and going 6-0 through the fall.
“It’s great to know that this is the team that will probably go into the spring,” Dennison said. “We played really well, and it showed in our victory.”
With last year’s regional quarterfinal exit from the playoffs still on their mind, Lamar’s players want to take it one step further in the spring.
“We made it here last year, and it was a thrill just to sit in the dugout because I didn’t play,” Resnick said. “This year playing is a whole different story. because it is like you are here in a Major League ballpark playing your biggest rivals and you come out with a victory.”
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