The Collinsville Pirates and the Tioga Bulldogs met on the diamond Tuesday night for the baseball edition of the Battle of the Bridge, with the Pirates taking the home win 9-0.
The Pirates were full sails ahead on both sides of the ball, powered by a strong performance from starting pitcher Garrett Trevino and a good night in the batter’s box, winning the hitting battle 9-2.
“We're 14-3, but it hasn't felt right, and today felt right,” Collinsville head baseball coach Derrick Jenkins said. “We put base hit bunts down. We made hits with runners in scoring position, and that's really who we are. We're a group of guys that are going to take care of their role when it happens. We haven't done a very good job this year, but we did a very good job tonight.”
Outfielder Jaxon Spivey got the Pirates opening salvo going in the bottom of the second inning with a line drive single to right field that emptied the bases, putting Collinsville up 2-0.
The Pirates barrage of runs continued in the fourth inning after utility player Caysen Schafer got home on a passed ball and third baseman Noe Cantu laid down a sacrifice bunt, extending Collinsville’s lead to 4-0.
Catcher Paxton Davidson kept things rolling for Collinsville with a 2-run line drive double to center field.
Davidson’s hit was followed by a sacrifice fly to center by Trevino that allowed Davidson to get home, pushing the Pirates lead to 7-0.
Collinsville would add two more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning with sacrifice hits from Davidson and outfielder Brandon Cantu, sealing the 9-0 victory.
Tioga struggled to get anything going offensively, and Bulldogs head coach Slayton Holland said his team has to improve.
“The main thing here is we have to figure out how to execute,” he said. “I think we had eight runners on base, and we have to find a way to put a ball in play and score. That's what [Collinsville] did well. They executed when they had runners on, and we didn’t, and that was the outcome of the game today.”
Collinsville’s defensive clinic was spearheaded by Trevino, who finished with nine strikeouts, two hits and no runs allowed.
“We played as a whole this game,” he said. “The past few games, we haven't been playing up to our full potential, but we had a good practice yesterday, got some real work done, and it really showed today.”
Senior first baseman Cash Morgan said he hopes that the win over Tioga rekindles the fire the Pirates need to make their return to Round Rock.
“[Coach] Jenkins is putting a whole lot of responsibility on us,” Morgan said. “… We won it all last season, and we’re trying to go back and win it again, so we’re trying to find that fire that we had last year at Dell Diamond. I think we found that tonight.”
The win was Collinsville’s eighth in a row, but Jenkins emphasized that the Pirates need to stay aware they have a target on their back as defending champs.
“We have to continue to build and play well every game,” he said. “We have to be perfect, and we have to believe in ourselves. A lot of the time, it's hard to do that, and sometimes you start doubting yourself, but it's straightforward. Believe in yourself because nobody else is going to believe in you if you don't believe in you, and that's the biggest for us. We believe that if you're the best team in the state, you have to go show it every day.”
Tioga will try to return to the winner’s circle against the Tom Bean Tomcats at 6:30 p.m. Friday, while Collinsville will go on the road, looking for its ninth win in a row against the Savoy Cardinals at 4 p.m. Friday.
