The Llano High School baseball team lost to Ingram Tom Moore 5-1 April 7 after completing the two-game sweep of Florence April 4 thanks to a 14-7 victory.
Against Ingram, both teams scored a run in the first inning with neither blinking until the sixth inning.
That's when the Warriors (15-3, 5-0) scored four runs. In all Ingram had five hits to go with its five runs. Junior Tyler Lanbein had two hits and a RBI to lead the Warriors while senior Maverick Delgado had a RBI.
Meanwhile, pitcher Delgado (6-1) allowed one run off two hits and a walk and struck out 10.
Against Florence, head coach Todd Doucet noted the Buffaloes didn't go down without a fight.
"It was a close ball game late," he said. "We wanted to get some insurance runs to try to give (freshman pitcher) Lucas (McClintock) a chance to win. Sometimes when you get those insurance runs, it gets the pitcher calm. It doesn't have to be a bunch of runs, just one or two an inning."
Llano (2-3) scored a run in the first inning and both teams plated four runs each in the second that gave the Yellow Jackets a 5-4 advantage.
However, the Buffaloes (9-10-1, 1-4) scored two runs in the bottom of the third only to see Llano answer with three runs in the fourth inning for an 8-6 lead.
Florence trimmed the deficit to 8-7 in the bottom of the fifth inning before the Jackets scored three runs in the sixth inning and three in the seventh inning.
In all Llano had 12 hits. Seniors Carter Bickett and Logan Van Pelt had three RBI apiece, while senior Colton Bailey had two.
McClintock picked up the win. He allowed two earned runs off four hits and three walks while striking out four in five-and-one-third innings.
Junior pitcher Austin Humphries finished the contest by allowing four earned runs, a hit and three walks while striking out four.
Doucet called a hit by sophomore Cash Lynch "unbelievable … to seal the win."
"I'm proud of Lucas," Doucet said. "He pitched really well. We had some big hits across the board from everyone in clutch situations to get us over the finish line. We felt fortunate to go over there and get the win. We were a little beat up going over there. The kids rallied around each other."
