Farmersville pitcher Seth Brooks held Princeton to three hits with three strikeouts Friday. Photo by Oladipo Awowale / C&S Media
By David Wolman
Despite being separated by seven miles, the Farmersville and Princeton baseball teams rarely get to play each other.
The two neighboring schools finally met Friday night in a pool-play game in the Farmersville Tournament.
Princeton overcame three errors and took an early 3-1 lead before surviving a late rally by Farmersville to earn a 3-2 victory.
The Panthers had a chance to take a stranglehold on the contest right away. Princeton loaded the bases with no outs after walks to Marlon Alvarado and Jordan Mosley and an infield single by Felix Martinez. Skyler Barnes followed with an RBI groundout for an early 1-0 Princeton lead.
Farmersville pitcher Seth Brooks limited the damage to one run. After the groundout, Brooks induced back-to-back flyouts to end the half-inning.
A leadoff double by Walker Liebert in the home half of the first inning led to the Farmers’ first run. Following a strikeout, Liebert came in to score to tie the game at 1-1 on an RBI fielder’s choice by Will Shirley.
Princeton retook the lead in the top of the second on an RBI single by Alvarado and later increased its lead to 3-1 after a throwing error by Farmersville allowed Martinez to touch home plate in the top of the third.
It remained a two-run game until the bottom of the fifth.
Farmersville reduced its deficit to 3-2 after Brady Aungst hit a one-out single and later scored on a throwing error. The play advanced the tying run to third base and the go-ahead run to second. However, Princeton pitcher Martinez regrouped just in time. He induced a pop fly for the second out and then struck out Camden Anderson to end the inning and secure the win.
The Farmers bounced back and defeated Newman Smith 5-1 on Saturday.
A three-run bottom of the first allowed Farmersville to quickly assume control, momentum it wouldn’t give back to Newman Smith.
All of the damage came with two outs. Carlo Vanegas and Sebastian Redwine hit back-to-back RBI singles to get the Farmers on the board, and after Reece Tuck drew a walk, Brandt Martinez followed with an RBI single up the middle for a 3-0 lead. Redwine provided the offensive spark for the Farmers, going 3-for-4 with one RBI. Martinez contributed two hits and one run.
Anderson tossed six efficient innings to notch the win, allowing one run (none earned) with four strikeouts while giving up six hits.
Farmersville went 3-1 in its home tournament, starting with a 9-4 win over Ranchview on Thursday, followed by a 4-3 victory against Greenville later in the day. Shirley and Brady Aungst combined on a one-hitter against Greenville with eight strikeouts.
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