TOP 10 of 2007-08: # 2 - Cardinals bounce back all the way to state
Thursday June 19, 2008
Written by Dave Purpura
Despite falling in the state semifinals, Bellaire baseball coach Rocky Manuel refuses to take anything away from his team’s season.
“I’m not going to apologize for making the final four in Texas,” Manuel said. “We’re the No. 1 team in Houston, a final four team in Texas and the top 20 in the country.”
Bellaire’s improbable run to state ended June 6 at Dell Diamond with a 7-1 loss to Southlake Carroll in the 5A state semifinals. The strong pitching that got Bellaire to state didn’t get it done against a Dragon team that pounded out 10 hits against three pitchers.
At the plate, Bellaire was held in check by pitcher Ross Stripling, who after giving up a run in the first inning, settled down and kept the Cardinal hitters off the bases for most of the game.
After centerfielder Jarrett Higgins hit a one-out triple to right field, third baseman Will McCaleb singled him home two batters later to give Bellaire a 1-0 lead. But the Cardinals could not come up with any more runs as outfielder Brian Baumgarten struck out to end the inning with two men on base.
“I was hoping we were going to pop it open in the first inning,” Manuel said. “You have a 70 percent chance of winning when you score first in a big game. But it didn’t hold true today. We scored first, but we couldn’t score again.”
Meanwhile, Bellaire starting pitcher Tyler Duffey kept the Dragons off balance in the first two innings, giving up only two hits. But Duffey got into trouble when he gave up two singles with one out in the third inning, then outfielder Shaun McPeters laced a seeing-eye single up the middle to score two runs for a 4-1 lead, which ended Duffey’s night.
Stripling took control of the game, holding the Cardinals to only five hits and nine strikeouts while retiring six in a row in the fourth and fifth innings.
This was the rare time the Cardinals couldn’t get up off the mat. Three out of four weekends in May, Bellaire recovered from series deficits to advance.
Bellaire, participating in its 11th trip to the state semifinals, had never lost a semifinal game until this year. But with 16 underclassmen returning, the Cardinals could have a chance to make up for it next year with another strong run to state.
“I can’t take anything away from our guys. Thirty-nine W’s with a lot of underclassmen playing,” Manuel said. “It’s tough out here. Hopefully we can work hard to get back here (next year).”
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