Brisson Barker’s strong pitching and heads-up play on the base pass helped the Dawson Field sell out and the WFLL won 8-2.

The match started with excitement as both teams were able to score early. The WFLL quickly took the lead when Adrian Crockett led the game with a devastating double to right-center. Barker then doubled in the same position to give the team a 1-0 lead before CLL pitcher Austin Kroes took the mound.

In the bottom of the first, Kroos pitched CLL. With a teammate at 2-0, he hit a ball and hit a big home run over the right field fence to tie the game at 1-1.

Attacking was key in the early stages, but it was defense that decided the match. Errors played a large role, as CLL made three of his errors, all of which resulted in WFLL being executed. WFLL did not commit anything.

WFLL manager Shane Barker was particularly proud of the way the team performed defensively considering the short amount of time the group spent together.

“I think it was a great game overall, everyone played well, the defense was solid. Told.

The score started to open from the 2nd inning. Kroos singled out the first two batters, and the second out came from Steele Robinson’s impressive catch at first base. After the highlight play, however, Close ran into trouble.

With two consecutive errors and walks, the bases were loaded at the bottom of the WFLL batting lineup. A passed ball gave them a one-run lead, and Jeremy Keck’s double added another two to give the WFLL a 5-1 lead. Keck had 1-for-2, 1 RBI, and 3 RBIs in the game.

Kroos recovered in the 3rd inning, but by the 4th inning, he had reached his pitching limit and left the mound. He allowed seven hits, one earned run, two walks, and struck out four batters in three 1/3 innings.

On the other side, Brisson Barker settled after an early caravan of baserunners. However, the start of the second inning could have been a dangerous development.

The first two batters got on base with a hit and a walk, respectively. That’s when Robinson showed his ability at bat and threw to the second baseman, but the ball was too hot to handle. The ball dived deep into right field and Levi Brooks scored from second base to make the score 5-2.

The next batter, Diego Hutchins, was hit by a pitch, sending Shane Barker to the mound. After taking the mound, Brisson fell behind the next batter with no strikes on three balls, but fought back and struck out with one out in the first inning. Bruker struck out the next batter in the air, then grounded out to put the bases loaded and maintain a 5-2 lead.

After the second inning, CLL failed to score a hit until Brisson left the mound. After the second inning, Brisson looked untouchable. He struck out all the outs he scored in the third and fourth innings, and took turns sitting on the side in the fourth. In the end, he survived the fifth inning with 3 hits, 2 earned runs, and 3 walks.

Brisson Barkahl struggled early on, but remained confident that his team would pick him up.

“My teammates were going all out the whole game. I just trusted them to play and throw strikes,” he said.

In the top of the 4th inning, WFLL began to extend their lead. Carson Abbey’s base hit kicked off the festivities, and chanting “This is our town” continued throughout the inning from the WFLL dugout. Abby was followed by Kayleigh Bigey, who walked the bases, and Michael Rodriguez, who hit the bases, loaded the bases.

Once again, CLL’s defensive error led to the goal. Deegan Custer hit a ground ball to third base, but the ball was misthrowed to home and allowed the third base runner to score. The next run was a strange one. Brady Conden worked countfully, but he struck out. Custer, the runner on first base, however, thought the ball was No. 4 and started walking toward second base. The CLL tried to remove him, allowing the runner on third to score, and eventually all runners advanced.

By the end of the inning, WFLL had no more hits, but the score widened to 8-2.

The CLL may not have played as cleanly as they hoped, but manager Josh Kroos is confident in his team’s approach to staying in the double-elimination bracket.

“It’s the same approach. We’re playing baseball, so we have to keep smiling. We’ll come back tomorrow, do what we have to do, win games, and keep playing tournaments,” he said.

At bat, WFLL showed perseverance. The team didn’t often fall behind on the count, forcing the CLL’s pitching staff to make quality pitches to break the deadlock.

“Everyone from 1 to 13 contributed to our success. We hit, we pitched, we did a good job and chewed up the numbers,” Shane Barker said.

No player in the WFLL had multiple hits, but Brisson Barker, Custer and Brock Casper all had RBIs. We also got four bags as a team thanks to Custer, Casper, Rodriguez and Beghey.

Now that the local teams have played against each other, they will face less familiar opponents in the coming days. However, that doesn’t seem to matter to either manager.

“We’re going to play baseball our way. Our focus is to get strikes, get good at-bats, and move forward from there,” said Shane Barker.

With the win, WFLL will advance to the next round of winners’ bracket, where they will face Payson in a match on June 29. The Continentals advance to Round 1 of the Losers Bracket and face Winslow in a match on June 29.

“Baseball is baseball. Our approach is the same whether we’re playing against fast pitchers or slow pitchers. I’m going to try to go,” Close said.