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Silenced roar: Bobcats fall to Farmersville in area round
BY CHRIS O'DELL, codell@starlocalnews.com
CARROLLTON -- Everything went right for the Bobcats during their 6-1 victory in Game 1 of Friday's area-round matchup against Farmersville.
The Farmers turned the tables on Saturday, winning a pitcher's duel in Game 2 before taking the series with a 14-3 run-rule victory in the decisive third game from Hebron High School.
"We just made way too many mistakes," said James Evans, Celina head coach. "We were snake-bit the entire [Game 3]."
Junior Andrew Bilienski began the game on the hill for Celina and got little help from his defense.
Bilienski lasted just 1.2 innings and surrendered seven runs on eight hits after the Bobcats committed four costly errors during his short outing.
"[Bilienski] started out good," Evans said. "We just had too many errors behind him."
Despite trailing by three runs entering the home half of the first, Celina came right back with a three-run inning of its own.
The Bobcats took advantage of early command issues from Farmersville starting pitcher James Perez to knot the game at three runs apiece before the Farmers pulled away for good.
The combination of Bilienksi and righty Tanner Davis allowed four more runs to come home and give Farmersville a 7-3 lead after two innings.
It would be all the run support Perez needed, as the righty shut down the Bobcats during the final four innings to earn the win on the mound.
"We just couldn't get a break," Evans said.
Celina wasn't limited in its opportunities on offense during the third game.
Perez issued walks to junior shortstop Daniel Gerths and outfielder Connor Torbert before senior first baseman Austin Hambrick hit a long fly ball to the warning track for the inning's third out.
Firmin and Richardson then began the third inning with a pair of singles to put two men on with no outs before Landon Lohman grounded into a double play that ultimately cost Celina a chance at a big inning.
The Bobcats would get the first two men on again in the fourth inning when junior Ridge Sandler singled off Perez and senior outfielder Ethan McCartney was hit by a pitch.
No runs would come home in the inning though after Gerths lined out for Celina's first out and Torbert grounded into an inning-ending double play during the next at bat.
"It just wasn't in the cards today," Evans said. "We were hitting the ball hard right to them all game long."
With Farmersville adding two runs in the fourth inning and four in the fifth, the game ended after a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth for Celina.
The loss put the Bobcats at 16-9 on the season after also dropping Game 2 of the three-game set earlier in the day.
Richardson took the hill in that one and tossed a gem for the Bobcats but failed to record the win after getting no help from his offense.
The senior surrendered just one run on six hits during his seven innings of work.
Command was an issue for the lefty early in the game, however, after tallying five walks in the contest and hitting another two batters.
"[Richardson] struggled a little bit early on, but he eventually got it going," Evans said. "He pitched good enough to win the game."
The Bobcats couldn't generate any offense for the hurler, recording only three hits off Farmersville starter Collin Rodgers.
Celina only produced one extra base hit all day long and seven hits in the two games combined, with no Bobcat registered a multi-hit game.
That allowed Rodgers to pitch a complete game shutout after giving up only the three hits and walking no batters. The righty also fanned four hitters in the game.
"[Rodgers] kept us off balance all day," Evans said. "We put the ball in play. We just couldn't get anything through."
With neither team finding the scoreboard through the first four innings, the Farmers finally broke the scoreless tie in the top of the fifth.
Rodgers began the inning with a leadoff single before moving to second after Richardson plunked the following hitter to put two men on.
Outfielder Darren Pennington then came through with a one-out RBI single on an 0-2 count to score Rodgers and give Farmersville the late lead.
Richardson would limit the damage and retired the following two hitters to keep the game within reach.
Celina's best chance at scoring the equalizer came in the sixth inning when Firmin roped a two-out double into the gap to put the tying run in scoring position.
Richardson couldn't come through at the plate in the next at bat though and grounded out to end the inning and ultimately give the Farmers the 1-0 victory.
"We weren't pressing at the plate," Evans said. "The pitchers just kept us off balance."
The two losses spelled an end for Celina's season after entering the playoffs as the one seed with a share of the District 10-3A championship.
"This was the most improved team I've ever coached," Evans said. "I hate for them to have to lose. I really enjoyed this team."
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