It’s been said many times to “take what the defense gives you”. That is exactly what the Sam Houston Broncos did on Saturday afternoon in their 12-1 win over the Jennings Bulldogs (12-8, 2-3) in District 5-4A action.
The Broncos (14-10, 5-0) capitalized on eight walks by the Jennings pitching staff and three errors by the defense to score 12 runs on just 10 Sam Houston hits.
“It’s unfortunate for Jennings that their starter had five walks in two innings,” said Broncos’ head coach Brad Book. “When he threw balls over the plate, we hit them hard. It was a great job by our hitters today.”
Of the 10 Bronco hits, only two went for extra bases.
“It’s a big ballpark and their outfielders are very good here,” Book said. “It’s hard to get anything in the gap because their outfielders are so fast.”
Both extra base hits came in the third inning when Dylan Champagne and Travis Montgomery hit doubles to left field to lead Sam Houston to a five-run inning for an 8-0 lead.
Champagne also did his part on the mound by holding the Jennings’ batters to only four hits and one run that came in the bottom of the third on a Travis Legros RBI-single.
“I thought Champagne did a great job on the mound for us,” said Book on his starter. “He didn’t overthrow. He just sat in there and did what he had to do and throw the pitches he had to.
“He had great plays behind him. I thought our defense played extremely well behind him. As for as pitching, catching, and throwing, I thought it was a great day for us.”
The senior pitcher struck out five batters and had only one walk for the complete game win.
Taking an 8-1 lead after the first three innings of play, the Broncos sealed the win with a three-run fourth inning while capitalizing on two walks and adding a hit.
Andrew Guillotte led the Broncos with a 3-for-4 effort at the plate with two RBI’s and two runs scored. Champagne finished the game with a 2-for-3 day with a double and an RBI. Garrett Logan went 2-for-2 for Sam Houston while drawing two walks.
Kelsey Richard took the loss for the Bulldogs pitching two and a third innings and allowed five earned runs on seven hits with five walks. Legros came in and pitched the remaining two and two-thirds innings and allowed two earned runs on three hits with two strikeouts and three walks.
