The Sam Houston Broncos are one step closer to at least a share of a District 4-4A title with a 24-1 rout of the LaGrange Gators on Friday afternoon.

The game was scheduled as a doubleheader as Sam Houston as the visiting team at their home field, but due to incoming inclement weather, the second game will be played on Monday afternoon.

The Broncos (23-3, 9-0) got to business early in the first inning to score seven runs on seven hits and two Gator errors to take an early 7-0 lead.

LaGrange (4-15, 0-7) wasn’t going to lie down for the hard hitting Sam Houston team as the Gators worked two hits for a run to make the score 7-1 after one inning of play.

But that would be as close as LaGrange could get to the Broncos. Sam Houston batted through their lineup twice in the second inning to score 12 runs in the top half of the inning on eight hits to take a commanding 19-1 lead.

Sam Houston starter Grant Cox buckled down in the second inning to retire the Gators to allow his teammates to further extend the lead.

“We swung the bats well,” Broncos’ head coach Brad Book said. “Grant gave us a good start on the mound and we made plays. It was a good game offensively.”

Before the third inning, Book had a conference with the umpire to change his entire lineup to bring in substitutes.

The younger Bronco hitters showed that they were force to watch out for as they added three runs in the third and two more in the fourth to take the 24-1 win.

“Our bench players have had a lot of game experience this year,” said Book. “It’s tough sometimes when they come in and we are trying to shut it down a little bit. Because I expect them to go full speed. I expect them to go out hard and have quality at bats and they have all year.”

Evan Powell went 3-for-3 with an RBI and Blake Felts added a 2-for-2 day with three RBI’s to lead the Bronco hitters.

Grant Cox added a 2-for-3 performance with three RBI’s and Dylan Champagne came off the bench and hit the only home run of the game in the fourth inning for two RBI’s.

Cox went three innings on the mound for Sam Houston allowing one run on three hits and striking out four. Champagne pitched the last two innings of the contest with only one hit allowed and two strikeouts.

The Gators were led at the plate by T.J. Thibodeaux who went 1-for-2 with an RBI.

District 4-4A Baseball
    Overall    Dist.
Sam Houston    23-3    9-0
DeRidder    16-11    7-2
Eunice    14-10    4-5
LaGrange    4-15    0-7
Washington-Marion    2-12    0-6