TEXARKANA, Texas -- Luke Flanagan spun a one-hit shutout, Brenton Clark slapped a bases-load triple, and Ty "Clutch" Boozed smashed a towering walk-off homer over deep center as Pleasant Grove stayed unbeaten in district play with a 10-0 win over Paris on Friday night in The Grove.
The victory leaves PG (16-7, 10-0) two games ahead of Liberty-Eylau (18-5, 8-2). The two have a critical District 15-4A showdown at 2 p.m. today at L-E.
All that offense and pitching could easily overshadow a nifty defensive game turned in by the Hawks. After Flanagan surrendered a lead-off single, followed by a walk. Clark, Jarret Halter, and Boozer wiped out two runners with a 6-4-3 double play.
Flanagan enticed Keller Limbaugh, Paris' cleanup hitter, into a weak grounder back to the mound, and the junior pitcher was on his way. He did not yield another hit the rest of the way. He struck out four and walked two.
"The thing about Luke is that the more he pitches, the stronger he gets," said coach Riley Fincher. "Tonight, his fastball had great late life. It came in on the hitter fast. Then he got his breaking ball over."
Flanagan was aided by some highlight reel plays at third by Spencer Browning. With Blake Walker on second in the third, Browning scooped up a hard grounder, glanced left, and caught Walker too far off the bag. Halter was waiting for the throw and the two ran down Adamson.
"Plays like that build team chemistry," Fincher said. "They get excited for each other's success."
The Hawks broke out the crooked numbers early, putting up four runs in the second. Clark made Paris pay for a hit batsman, single, and a walk with a triple into the right field corner. That brought in Landon West, Jace Elrod, and Boozer.
"Ty getting walked to load the bases was key," Fincher said. The plays he makes in the field, getting on base, and getting big hits help in so many ways. We want him batting ninth because he's followed by the best hitter on the team, Clark. He's going to get pitches, and he handles them."
In the third, Elrod sliced his second single, this one for an RBI, and Clark hit a double to bring in two more.
Hunter Rose had a solo shot over right in the fifth to put the Hawks within two runs of ending the contest via the mercy rule.
Buck Anderson led off with a hard single to left. Two hitters later, Boozer laid into a fastball and launched it soaring into the woods deep behind the tall portion of the fence in center.
------
Sulphur Springs 10, Pleasant Grove 0
Sulphur Springs' eponymous pitcher Hannah Speed threw a one-hit shutout, striking out 13 along the way, to keep the Wildcats unbeaten in District 15-4A softball play.
Pleasant Grove, which remains firmly entrenched in second, will conclude its regular season with a rain-makeup game today with third-place Pittsburg. The game is at noon at The Grove.
Speed walked four but did not surrender a hit until Hailey Allen smacked a double in the fourth. The Wildcats scored in five of six innings. Speed had three hits and scored all three times. Third baseman Baylor Boatmore drove in three runs with two doubles.