Mason Johnson reached on an error in the outfield and eventually scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the 12th inning to lift Linden-Kildare to a 6-5 win in Game 1 of the Region III-2A baseball series at Texas High.
Each team had multiple scoring chances after regulation, but it was Johnson who benefited from the third error of the game by the Pirates and also picked up the pitching win.
The series continues with Game 2 at 5 p.m. Friday, back at Tiger Field. Should James Bowie force a third game, it will be played after Game 2 is completed.
Johnson-the third pitcher for the Tigers-needed 40 pitches over four innings of work. He struck out three, hit one and allowed one hit.
James Bowie starter Evan Barron pitched 6 2-3 innings, scattering five hits and allowing five runs-four earned. He struck out seven, walked three and hit three.
Caleb Cunningham came on in relief of L-K starter Trent Wert, who pitched 3 1-3 innings, and Cunningham threw 104 pitches in 5 2-3 innings. He gave up five hits, struck out eight, walked three and hit three.
Both pitchers took no decisions.
Cason Braley absorbed the pitching loss, tossing 65 pitches over 4 2-3 innings. He scattered four hits, struck out five, walked one and allowed one unearned run.
Johnson, playing center field to start the game, made a diving catch in left-center with one down and a runner at second in the top of the second. Johnson threw out the runner at second before he was able to tag up, completing an inning-ending double play.
Johnson singled to left after Nic Kunze was struck by a pitch to start the bottom of the second inning. Barron picked off the runner at second, and catcher Garrett Brown threw out the runner attempting to steal second after a strikeout.
Tyler Crabtree lined a leadoff hit to right to start the Pirates' third, he was bunted over, and a hit batsman and walk loaded the bases with one out. Barron singled home the initial run, and Whitt Rogers' sacrifice fly to deep center made it 2-0.
Chase Bynum, the Tigers' No. 9 batter, followed a pair of free passes with a line drive single to center, loading the bases. A wild pitch scored a run for Linden-Kildare, and a double play allowed the tying run to score.
Zane DeBerry doubled off the wall in left to lead off the fourth for James Bowie, and Tyler Crabtree lined a one-out single to left. A walk loaded the bags and prompted a pitching change.
A hit batter plated a run, and Dalton McBride dropped a two-out single into shallow center to give the Pirates a 5-2 lead.
Jacob Owen smashed a one-out triple to right field, driving in a pair of runs for the Tigers to cut the deficit to 5-4 In the bottom of the fifth. Owen was stranded at third to end the frame.
Cunningham walked one and hit the next in the James Bowie half of the sixth. A bunt single loaded the bases with no outs, but a ground ball to third baseman Owen started a 5-2-3 double play to nail the runner at home and the batter at first.
Cunningham fanned the next batter to strand runners at second and third.
Following Owen's two-run triple, Barron retired seven in a row-five on strikeouts-before a two-out, two-base error in the bottom of the seventh.
An infield hit and another error later, the Tigers tied the game. A flyout to the wall in center field brought on extra innings.
James Bowie loaded the bases with one out in the eighth, but a strikeout and ground ball ended the threat.
Linden-Kildare got a leadoff infield hit by Wert in the ninth, and he was bunted to second. Dalton Alford's single to right drew a threw home from Pirate right fielder Evan Williams, who cut down the potential winning run at the plate with a perfect strike.
The Pirates loaded the bags with no outs in the 10th but came away with no runs as reliever Mason Johnson struck out a pair and induced a comebacker.
A wild pitch on a strikeout allowed the Tigers' first batter to reach in the bottom of the 10th. Johnson singled to shallow left, and an intentional walk loaded the bases after a passed ball took the force off.
Braley fanned the next three, giving him four strikeouts in the inning, to thwart the L-K rally.
James Bowie=002=300=000=000=-=5=10=3
Linden-Kildare=002=020=100=001=-=6=9=1
One out when winning runs scored.
Evan Barron, Cason Braley (7) and Garrett Brown. Trent Wert, Caleb Cunningham (4), Mason Johnson (10) and Duece Shuler. WP-Johnson. LP-Braley.