Comfort High and Merkel played a doubleheader Thursday in Brownwood to open the first round of the 3A playoffs and split with the Badgers.
The Bobcats captured the first game in extra innings, 3-1, but dropped Game 2 to the Badgers, 6-4, to force a third game.
Comfort (23-5-1) and Merkel (15-10) moved their third game to Monday in Brownwood at 4 p.m.
Comfort 3, Merkel 1
Thursday’s Game 1 wasn’t decided until the ninth inning when the Bobcats pushed in two runs for the 3-1 lead that held until the end.
Both teams scored a single run in the third inning, and it stayed there until the ninth when Comfort tallied two runs in the top of the frame. An error, two walks and a sac fly by Matt Kemp scored Ryder George from third for the 2-1 lead but there was only one out.
Mason Matt later scored on a passed ball and it was 3-1 going into the bottom of the ninth. The Badgers went down in order with a pop up and a couple of ground outs for the win.
Gunner Carpenter went 7.2 innings and tossed 116 pitches before he left. Carpenter scattered 3 hits, 1 run, 6 walks and he struck out 5.
Owen Schulze tossed the final 1.1 innings and picked up the win after he didn’t give up a hit, walk or run.
The Bobcats finished with 5 hits, including a triple and a single from Matt, who scored 2 runs. Carpenter, Dax Stehling and Rhyder George all singled and George scored a run.
Comfort 4, Merkel 6
The second game between the Bobcats and Badgers was tied 2-2 until the seventh inning when the teams scored a bunch of runs, but Merkel managed to tally 4 runs in the top of the seventh and Comfort could only knock in 2 runs.
In that seventh inning, Merkel did all of their damage with two outs. Comfort retired the first two batters, but a single, walk and error allowed the Badgers to pull ahead, 3-2.
Another single pushed in two more runs and it was 5-2 and Merkel wasn’t done. A second Bobcats error in the inning bumped the Badgers’ lead to 6-2 as Merkel sent six batters to the plate with two outs before the Cats recorded the third out.
Comfort had a good start in the bottom of the seventh after Rhyder George singled, followed by a Mason Matt double. A Gunner Carpenter single brought in George and it was 6-3 with no outs.
A ground out scored Matt from third and the lead was trimmed to 6-4 with only one out, but Merkel ended it with a ground out and a fly out.
Mason Matter went all 7 innings on the hill for the Cats and gave up 6 hits, only 1 earned run and 4 walks to go with 4 strikeouts.
Comfort had five hits from five players, including the double from Matt, who scored 2 runs. Carpenter, Augie Diaz de Villegas and George all singled as well and Diaz de Villegas and George both scored one run.
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