Relief pitching is an art form, particularly in high school where some nights you need a lockdown kind of guy.
After Henrietta had cut a 2-0 deficit in half in the second inning of Friday night’s baseball game with the Tigers, Jacksboro brought reliever Baylor Laake to the hill. Laake slammed the door in the prior game and didn’t allow a run over his final two innings.
He did an even better job at home on Senior Night, allowing one hit over 5 1/3 innings in relief to help preserve a 2-1 win over the visiting Bearcats. Jacksboro finishes District 7-3A action at 6-6 and has a legitimate shot at the postseason. The squad can get there in one of two ways:
By having Bowie beat Henrietta in both schools’ finale or by Jacksboro beating the Bearcats again in a tiebreaker.
Laake said it being Senior Night fueled him.
“I did it for the seniors to ensure they’d get another game,” Laake said following the 2:01 festivities.
Coach Blake Belcher said he felt confident Laake could do the job based on the game three nights prior. With the Tiger offense in shut down mode by Henrietta’s Baron Brown after the first inning, Laake struck out six, walked one and hit a batter to preserve the win.
The two-run first came as Peyton Kinman drew a walk and scored on Christian Wiggings triple to left. A throwing error brought Wiggins home with the game winning run.
Laake came on with the bases full and two gone in the second and got the hitter to fly to center.
Henrietta tried to tie the game in the third with a three-base error with two gone. The runner was cut down at the plate. Other Bearcat chances were shut down as well. In the seventh, Laake hit a batter who stole second but was thrown out at third trying to steal. A groundout to shortstop ended the game.
Jacksboro had just four hits including singles by Kasey Ray Swan and Jackson McComis in the second and third. Both were retired on force plays. Taber Dunn singled with two gone in the sixth but a strikeout prevented further damage.
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