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Towing the line: Boucher, defense carry Panthers to ninth straight
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@starlocalnews.com
The Plano East baseball team managed just four hits and was held scoreless for four innings Friday night.
It didn't matter though as pitching and defense were the Panthers' weapons of choice against Hebron and helped pace a 5-3 victory that kept East atop the District 8-5A ranks.
"[Hebron's] pitchers did a great job tonight," said Travis Collins, East head coach. "Aside from the first inning, they did real well. We hit some balls hard but were right at them, which is just how baseball goes sometimes.
The Panthers (9-2 in district) got all the offense they needed in the first inning, where they amassed 80 percent of their runs and 75 percent of their hits.
The Hawks (1-10) had a hand in the spurt, with pitcher Joe Farley fielding a soft grounder from junior Ryan Kravik and hurling the ball past first baseman Michael Delavar. The error allowed junior Nick Ramos to score and advance Kravik to third. Senior Jacob DeLaCruz was hit by a pitch and senior Paul Garcia walked to load the bags, with Kravik eventually scoring after a walk to sophomore James Rudkin.
One batter later, senior Jacob Boucher helped break the game open with a two-RBI single that plated DeLaCruz and Garcia to give East a 4-1 lead.
"Usually one inning every game has been our nemesis," said Steve Stone, Hebron head coach. "It was no different tonight. I was happy with the way the guys battled and fought, but the bottom line is we're not doing enough to win a game right now."
Things looked optimistic for the Hawks early on, with Farley knocking home Jimmy Gallarda for the game's first run.
From that point on, the Hawks found themselves at the mercy of junior Ryan Boucher, who tossed his fourth straight complete game for his fifth consecutive district win.
"We expected [Ryan] to throw well," Collins said. "He threw a bit last year as a sophomore and got his feet wet with us. He's right on pace to what we thought he would be; he's a strike thrower and won't strike out a ton every night, but will throw where he wants to."
Ryan posted 10 strikeouts and no walks while giving up six hits and two earned runs.
The best the Hawks were able to muster was an RBI double by Troy Wurzbach in the fourth inning and a run scored by Alec Isaac off an East error in the sixth frame.
Farley didn't last long, in large part due to the 31 pitches tossed in the opening inning. The southpaw settled down though, throwing 4.1 innings and giving up four runs on three hits while striking out four.
"Once [Farley] made that error, he had a hard time settling down," Stone said. "After that, he was cruising along pretty good; it's just that his pitch count got too high."
All that said, the Panthers retained only a 4-3 lead before senior Sam Lane gave the team breathing room in the sixth with a fielder's choice that scored senior Matt Wylie.
The 5-3 result was Hebron's eighth straight 8-5A loss and the Panthers' eighth district win in a row, ninth consecutive overall.
"It's been a long time," Collins said of the team's winning streak. "It's been a while and we'll take it. As bad a start as we got out to those first few games and for these guys to battle back the way they have, we're real proud of them."
The Panthers next take to the field Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. for a road tilt against Flower Mound while the Hawks host Plano West at the same time.
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