HERRERA HITS THIRD HOME RUN IN TOURNAMENT LOSS

Brooks Herrera had a hand in all four runs the Bearcats scored in a 9-4 loss to Paris in the District 3A-4 tournament semifinals Thursday night.

The game was moved from Cedarville to Hackett after a thunderstorm rolled through Cedarville yesterday afternoon.

Herrera (shown bunting a ball off his foot) singled leading off the game and moved to second when a pickoff attempt got away at first base.

Herrera stole third and scored on a ground ball that turned into another error.

Herrera's leadoff single would be the only hit for the Bearcats until the fourth inning and by then the Eagles had built an 8-1 lead.

Jace Washburn led off the fourth reaching on an error and, after two were down, Blazen Jones singled to center to bring up Herrera.

Herrera drilled a 1-0 pitch out of the park in left for his third home run of the season to make it 8-4.

Paris added a run in the sixth on a pop fly that fell for a single that would be the final pitch for Peyton Tatum, who threw 106 pitches in the outing.

Paris had scored a run in the first inning without a hit to tie it at 1-1 then took the game over with a six-run third that included three walks, three hits, and an error in succession before Tatum got one of his six strikeouts to finally end the frame.

Tatum pitched out of a jam in the fourth with two more strikeouts after the Eagles scored one run to lead 8-1 and had runners at second and third.

Matt O’Bar, who got the final two out of the bottom of the sixth, singled leading off the seventh and with tow down Herrera worked a walk. Rylen Ray singled as well but pinch runner Casey Mattson was thrown out trying to score.

The Bearcats will now play in the third place game today. The tournament shifts back to Cedarville and the Bearcat-Hackett game starts at 3:30.