The Pearland baseball team scored big in the first inning and continued to score throughout the game to top host St. Thomas, 14-8 in a non-district game Monday night.

Pearland’s unstoppable first inning began with Corbin Smith taking first after being hit by a pitch. Machon Trimm had the first hit of the game and another hit-by-pitch loaded the bases for Tobias Dorsett.

Dorsett and Mitch Shepherd followed with two-run hits. Three more runs crossed the plate on one hit and a fielder’s choice. To end the inning, St. Thomas’s Colin Bear made a great diving play for the third out and a chance for the Eagles to score some runs.

“It was a big first inning for us,” Pearland coach Ben Pardo said. “We’ve been fortunate enough to put pressure on people early. And sometimes we get a little help. They helped us a little tonight with some wild pitches but we did get three or four hits.”

St. Thomas didn’t produce any runs at its first at-bat. It wasn’t until the bottom of the second where they scored their first run from a balk. Scooter Fisch led off with a hit and then stole second. A fielder’s choice advanced Fisch to third base and a balk by Pearland’s pitcher allowed Fisch to score.

The Oilers (9-11-1) racked up three more runs in the second and third innings from four hits and led 10-1 by the middle of the third.

St. Thomas had their biggest inning yet in the bottom of the fifth, when it scored three runs. Bear led off the inning with a hit. Then with two outs, Fisch hit, Matt Stuart walked, Tim Redden walked for an RBI and Patrick Hicks ended the inning with the third out, but not before knocking in two runs.

“They competed well,” Pardo said. “They never shut it down and they fought hard. They kept swinging the bat and kept coming back at us.”

Following the Eagles’ big inning, Pearland had one of its own. On one out, Carlos Lebron-Thachar smacked the ball. Then with two outs, Drew Dekerlegand got a hit. Lebron-Thachar stole home on a pass ball. Later, Dekerlegand stole third, Smith walked, and Chase Janecek hit in the two runners on base.

Pearland begins the second round of District 24-5A play this Friday against Clear Creek, who the Oilers defeated 5-2 in the first round.

“Hopefully we pick up where we left off tonight,” Pardo said. “We had a tough first round going 2-4. We didn’t expect to be 2-4 but we start second round on Friday. But some things are starting to come together. So hopefully we’ll be able to make a run of it in the second round and put ourselves in the playoffs.” 

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