The Calera Bulldogs notched their first-ever state baseball tournament victory with an 11-1 thumping of Latta last week but bowed out of the Class 2A Division 1 event in a 14-5 loss to eventual champ Cashion.
Coach Rickey Teafatiller’s squad closed the season with a school-best 31-5 record.
Calera showed its offensive opportunism in the opener while also riding a stellar pitching effort from Hazyn Applegate, who twirled all five innings while allowing one run on four hits with one strikeout and two walks.
The Bulldogs broke a scoreless deadlock in the second inning, plating six runs before they were finished and that proved more than enough offensive support.
Applegate helped his own cause by leading off with a single and was followed by a Talon Rose single before Darren Johnson knocked in the opening tally with a double to left. Cody Langley tossed in a RBI single for the team’s fourth straight hit.
Gavin Chaffin and Logan Bumgarner also singled one out later and Jaron Varner capped the scoring with a two-run double.
Latta notched its lone run in the third frame, which Calera answered with a tally of its own in the fourth as they cashed in three free passes and a Panther error.
A four-run eruption in the fifth inning ended the game early on the run rule as they loaded the bases on free passes and wrapped it up with Johnson’s second double of the game, which knocked in a pair.
Johnson finished with three RBI on his two doubles. Bumgarner, Varner, Applegate, Rose, Langley and Chaffin all had one hit.
Things didn’t go nearly as well for the second-ranked Bulldogs against third-rated Cashion as the Wildcats jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the opening frame and left Calera playing from behind the rest of the game.
The Bulldogs answered with a pair of runs in the second inning as Johnson got it started with a twoout hit. Back-to-back walks loaded the bases and Chaffin forced in the two runs with a single.
A Zaiden Craige triple to begin the third provided the fuel for another tally to narrow the gap to 6-3.
Cashion had the response with three runs in the fourth inning before a final Calera surge that included two runs in the fifth to wrap up its scoring while cutting the deficit to 9-5.
Two walks and a Rose single loaded the bases with Johnson’s sacrifice fly knocking in one and a Langley double plating the other.
Calera finished the contest with seven hits as Rose and Johnson posted two each to lead the charge.