Champion baseball team sweeps Pieper

After last week’s sweep against the Pieper baseball team, Champion has reached seven district wins to keep pace with three other teams in 26-5A that all have seven wins as well.

The Chargers beat Pieper on Tuesday (8-1) and then finished them off last Thursday at home, 8-5, to improve to 7-2 in district. They are 21-3-1 overall and entered the week ranked No. 7 in the latest Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association poll.

Champion has a busy week ahead and will play three games. They hosted a New Braunfels team Tuesday that was also 7-2 in 26-5A. The Chargers will visit the Unicorns Friday and then play Veterans Memorial Saturday before beginning a series with Kerrville Tivy next week.

The Chargers were on the verge of run ruling the Warriors on Thursday and leading 8-0 after a fast start with 3 runs in the first, 3 more in the second and 2 in the fourth.

As it went to the fifth inning, the Chargers needed to keep the Warriors off the board and score 2 runs to end it, but Pieper blew up those plans with a 4-run fifth frame.

The Warriors put a runner on base thanks to an infield error by the Chargers, but the Champion defense retired the next two batters and were one out away from keeping it a shutout.

Two Pieper singles and a home run by Hayden Walters made it a new ball game at 8-4 before the Chargers could get out of the inning.

Champion didn’t score in the fifth and sixth innings, but Pieper plated a run in the sixth to make it 8-5.

Starting pitcher Owen Kuhl left the game in the fifth with one out and was replaced by Cal Isley.

In the seventh, Isley was able to get two quick outs with a ground out and an infield pop up. After Isley walked the next batter, he struck out the final Pieper hitter to end the game.

Kuhl went 5.1 innings and threw 96 pitches. He picked up the win after giving up 6 hits, 1 earned run, 3 walks and striking out 4.

Isley earned the save and faced seven batters. He used 32 pitches and didn’t give up a hit or run, 2 walks and struck out one in 1.2 innings of work.

The Chargers outhit the Warriors, 9-6, and scored their first two runs of the game on a Brody Bendele 2-run shot to left field.

Blake Ott finished with a double, 2 singles and drove in 2 runs, Garland Whitehead hit 2 singles and scored 3 runs, Austin Garritano doubled, scored twice and picked up an RBI, Jaedyn Yamaguchi drove in a run, while Brody Eisert and Caiden Cruz both singled.