BASEBALL: Double redemption: Bulldogs advance taking two from Broncos
Published 11:00 pm Friday, May 4, 2018
- Landon Hiltz of Nederland lined a hit in Game 2 and two-RBI single in Game 3. (Michael Sudhalter/Special to The News)
By Michael Sudhalter
Special to The News
MONT BELVIEU — It took 4.5 hours and a pair of stellar complete games on the mound for the Nederland baseball team to win its first UIL playoff series in five years.
The District 22-5A champion Bulldogs (23-7-1) entered Friday’s bi-district round at Barbers Hill in need of two victories to advance. They scored two victories, 4-0 and 11-2, to defeat Dayton (20-12-1), 2 games to 1. Dayton won Game 1, 1-0, on Wednesday.
Nederland will face Galena Park in the second round next week. The Yellowjackets defeated Houston Austin in the bi-district round. Times and sites haven’t been announced yet.
“Galena Park is going to be tough,” Nederland head coach Bryan Spell said. “They play in a competitive district, and they do things right.”
Nederland benefited greatly from the performance of pitchers Conner Kemp and Alan Underwood, respectively.
Kemp threw a complete game two-hitter with five strikeouts in Game 2. He had just two walks through the first six innings. He walked the first two batters in the seventh, before Dayton grounded into a double play to end the game.
“Conner gave us what we needed,” Spell said. “The bigger the game, the better he is. Alan threw well, and we have a lot of confidence in him.”
Underwood also struck out five, including the final two Broncos, to end the series in Game 3.
In both Friday games, the Bulldogs’ bats came alive in the fourth inning.
Nederland scored all four of its runs in the fourth inning of Game 2. Underwood singled and reached second on an error, scoring Trenton Simon.
Angel Castillo reached on an error, and Colton Hartt had a gutsy sacrifice bunt that led to a 4-0 lead.
In Game 3, the Bulldogs went ahead 2-0, before Dayton quickly tied it.
They once again scored four runs in the fourth, led by Brian Davila’s RBI Double and Landon Hiltz’s two RBI single. That was followed by Adam Roccaforte’s RBI for a 6-2 advantage.
Nederland never looked back as Underwood stayed on the mound. In the fifth and sixth innings, they came close to 10-run ruling the Broncos.
Spell, a 1995 Nederland graduate who was part of the Bulldogs’ 1994 district championship team, said the Bulldogs also advanced in 2013 by defeating Dayton twice after a one-game deficit.
“I am extra happy for our players — it was a tough challenge having to beat Dayton twice,” Spell said. “Hopefully, we can keep the momentum rolling in the playoffs.”
About I.C. Murrell
I.C. Murrell was promoted to editor of The News, effective Oct. 14, 2019. He previously served as sports editor since August 2015 and has won or shared eight first-place awards from state newspaper associations and corporations. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, grew up mostly in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and graduated from the University of Arkansas at Monticello.
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