Some of the greatest wins in sports are those that come after a team is way behind, given up as a lost cause as fans “head to the exits.” Conversely, the most painful defeats occur when the losing team looks back on a big advantage that’s squandered. Please Google: Houston-Buffalo in the NFL, January, 1993.
So, here we are--and there’s no need to Google--the Llano baseball Jackets, April 8, dropped a 17-14 decision at Ingram after leading, 11-2, in the fourth inning. How would you like to get ready for a geometry test on the lengthy bus ride home after that setback?
Llano can also say it scored 11 unanswered runs, four coming in the third. Three walks were significant, and Kyle Leyendecker doubled in a run; Dustin Jordan had an RBI with a sacrifice fly.
Things got better in the fourth as the Jackets sent 11 men to the plate and six came home. There were five bases on balls in this frame, and it was Jordan who had a two bagger, and that chased in a pair of runs. Trey Brooks was one of the visitors who got a free pass in the third and fourth innings, and he walked four times on the night. A walk may not be as good as a hit, but it’s 90 feet better than an out.
The good news portion of this essay has concluded. Ingram, in its half of the fourth, said to Llano, “I’ll see your six and raise you two.” The Warriors picked up eight runs, and the game heading for the mercy rule had become an 11-10 thriller.
“You get up that much and lose, oh, man, that’s hard,” Jackets head coach Chad Krempin said. “Our pitchers didn’t throw strikes; they didn’t do their job.” Those men on the mound were Leyendecker, Dallas Redden and Lance Dickey. “We had the game won, and we didn’t put them away,” Krempin added, and later, space permitting, he’ll add more and blame somebody else besides the hurlers.
The official scorer cried out, “Hold it just a minute, coach, the Jackets’ defense totaled seven errors.”
Feeling the momentum, (does anyone really know if momentum was the factor, or is the brilliant sportswriter obligated to say that at this juncture?) Ingram collected four runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth.
Llano got a run in the seventh and had the bases loaded with one out, but the 15th, 16th, and 17th runs were stranded, and Warriors’ head coach Bubba Walters exchanged a wicked high five with one of his players.
No matter how much you think Van Gogh should have used more Black and Orange on his canvases, you had to be a little happy for Walters. He was the Ingram football coach in 2006 and 2007; there weren't any miracle comebacks on those endless Friday nights, but there were 20 losses.
Chad Krempin, of course, had his own problems. “I take the responsibility, too; it’s my fault when a team rallies like they did. I can’t just put it on my players; I have to also put it on my shoulders. We’ll go back to work; it won’t happen again.”