By GRAHAM POWELL
Leader sportswriter
Carlisle wasted no time putting runs on the board in the first game of Wednesday’s doubleheader with Palestine-Wheatley as the Bison dominated the Patriots from the first inning en route to a 15-0 blowout victory at Carlisle to open 2A-6 Conference play.
The Bison got the job done early at the plate, scoring nine runs in the first inning as all but one Carlisle batter reached base safely in the inning. While Carlisle did damage with the bats, pitcher Tommy Inman kept the pressure off the Bison with a complete game, shutout performance.
“We had some guys step up and hit the ball. Austin Reed hit the ball real well, better than he has all year,” said Carlisle coach BJ Greene. “The pitching was good tonight. We hit the ball well. They made some plays, but we hit the ball pretty well tonight.”
Reed went 2-3 with two doubles in the first game for Carlisle, but he was one of four Bison with multiple hits in the game. Trey Wilson was 2-3 with two singles, Deron Ricks was 2-2 with a single and a double, and Inman was3-4 with four RBI’s, and was a home run shy of the cycle.
Carlisle scored four more runs in the second inning, and after being held scoreless in the third, Will Smith hit a hard grounder the opposite way with the bases loaded in the fourth that sent Tyler Young and Ricks home to make the score 15-0.
In the second part of the doubleheader, Carlisle didn’t come out as hot at the plate, but still put on a clinic as the Bison mercy ruled the Patriots 13-1 to end the second game in five innings.
Josh Mathis threw all five innings for the Bison, striking out 11 Patriots while only walking one. Mathis performed well despite overcoming illness.
“The pitching was good both games,” Greene said. “Josh has been sick, he’s been running a temperature and he’s been out of school for two days. So, he came in and played well for us.”
Carlisle wasn’t able to total nine runs out of the gate in game two, but the Bison scored four in the first, two in the second, and one in the third while allowing one run to lead 7-1. However, Palestine-Wheatley wasn’t as easy to put away in the second game as the Patriots did a better job connecting at the plate, and getting on base.
The Bison faced a bit of adversity in the bottom of the fourth, as the Patriots had two on with one out. Mathis responded to the challenge by striking out the next two batters to pitch his way out of the jam.
Carlisle put the game out of reach in the top of the fifth with a scoring rally started by freshman Dylan Brazeal, who hit a two-run double that the Bison built on from there. Leadoff hitter Chris Hart followed Brazeal with an RBI double. Wilson singled to drive in two more, and Deric Herring doubled to drive in Young for the final run.
“Dylan Brazeal did a good job coming in and pinch hitting for us for his first high school hit,” Greene said. “The only thing was we kind of coasted a little bit in the second game. We drug the game out a little longer than it needed to be, but I’m pretty proud of them.
“This group of kids since I’ve been here, they have a hard time playing a doubleheader, and that’s what stinks about our conference is it’s a doubleheader every time. They have to learn to play and not coast.”
Hart and Wilson each went 3-4 in the second game. Inman, Herring, Mathis and Reed all had two hits, while Smith, Brazeal and Hayden Hoover each had one hit. The doubleheader victory improves Carlisle’s record to 9-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play.
