3 days Ago By Mike Forman
SHINER — Something had to give but it wasn’t going to be Flatonia’s Titan Targac or Shiner’s Charlie Clifford. The starting pitchers posted nothing but zeroes on the scoreboard from the time they stepped on the mound for Saturday night’s District 29-2A game at Green-Dickson Park. Neither was there when Shiner scored the game’s only run in the bottom of the 10th inning of its 1-0 win.
The Comanches (12-4, 5-1) moved into a first-place tie with Bulldogs (10-41, 5-1). “Titan was tremendous,” Flatonia head coach Shawn Bruns said. “Our pitcher and their pitcher pitched their butts off.
” Targac, a Texas State signee, made it to the bottom of the eighth, before throwing his 114th pitch and leaving the game. He yielded two hits, one walk and hit two batters, while striking out 19, including six of the final seven hitters he faced. Clifford made it through nine innings, throwing 109 pitches before giving way to reliever Jake Simper.
Clifford allowed three hits and an intentional walk, while striking out 13 and retiring the final 10 hitters he faced. “I’m just trying to match him and keep a zero on the board,” Clifford said of Targac. “I was mainly focusing on mechanics, staying through the ball and not trying to overthrow.
My changeup was working and I was throwing really good locations and hitting my spots. The curveball was pretty good tonight.” Targac tripled with two outs in the first inning, but was stranded.
The Bulldogs got runners to second and third in the sixth, but couldn’t score. “Charlie was outstanding today,” Shiner head coach Daniel Boedeker said. “He did exactly what we needed him to do against Targac.
Keep them from scoring because we knew it was going to be tough on our end. He exceeded expectations there.” Shiner got a runner to third in the second inning, and a runner to second in the third against Targac, but couldn’t score.
“We’ve got to get guys on base one way or another,” Bruns said. “Their pitcher and our pitcher were both dealing really well tonight. It was a great pitchers’ duel.
I knew it was going to come down to both bullpens or a mistake on defense for the winning run to score.” The Comanches scored the winning run when Landen Christensen led off the 10th with a fly ball to left field. Flatonia’s Yanel Manzano started back on the ball and when he came in, he slipped and was unable to catch the ball, allowing Christensen to reach second base.
Boe Boehm followed with a bunt down the third-base line and beat the throw to first. Christensen went to third and continued home when he saw the plate was vacant. “It was a heads-up play by Landen,” Boedeker said.
“He saw it right away and started creeping and took advantage of the opportunity. We caught a break and it went our way.” With the split divisions, Shiner’s win and the rematch in Flatonia could take on added importance when it comes to playoff seeding.
“It’s a little bit different this year,” Boedeker said. “It was an important ballgame for us. I thought our kids stepped up to the challenge against a good team.
It wasn’t the prettiest, but we found a way to win.” Flatonia 000 000 000 0 — 0 3 0 Shiner 000 000 000 1 — 1 5 1 No outs when winning run scored W: Jake Simper. L: Kullen Kutac.
Highlights: (F) Titan Targac 7.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 HP, 19 SO, 1-for-3, 3B; Yandel Manzano 1-for-3. (S) Charlie Clifford 9 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB (intentional), 13 SO; Landen Christensen 1-for-4, 2B, R; Boe Boehm 1-for-4, RBI; Caleb Lehnert 1-for-2, SB.
Records: Flatonia 10-4-1, 5-1; Shiner 12-4, 5-1..
