Published: May 10, 2008 11:15 pm            

Cleburne forces Game 3 with win

Cleburne scored three runs in the third inning and two in the fifth on the way to a 5-1 win over Denton Ryan on Friday night at Yellow Jacket Field to force a deciding Game 3 in the area-round series.

Game 3 was scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday at Saginaw High School. Visit www.cleburnetimesreview.com for full details of the series finale.

Ryan won Game 1 9-0 on Thursday night at Denton Ryan High School.

“Baseball’s a funny game,” Cleburne head coach Ross Taylor said. “[Thursday] night it was really about [Ryan starting pitcher Curtis] Peterson. He just did a great job. The momentum got on their side and it went from bad to worse.”

The winner of the series will play either Fossil Ridge or Arlington Heights in the Region I quarterfinals.

Estefan Jimenez got the start on the mound for the Jackets, pitching six innings and allowing two hits. He walked two batters and hit another one and finished with two strikeouts on the night.

Centerfielder Ty Taylor hit a two-run single in the third inning to break a scoreless tie as Jose Martinez and Taylor Huff came around to score.

Taylor stole second base and went to third on a passed ball. He scored when Clayton Skoog reached on an error by Ryan second baseman Kevin Burkhart.

Skoog stole second and Colby Braddock walked, but the Raiders prevented further damage with a ground out and a strikeout to end the threat.

Taylor and Skoog also sparked the fifth-inning rally.

Taylor reached on an error that allowed him to advance to second base and Skoog doubled him home for a 4-0 lead. Braddock was hit by a pitch from Cord Jesek and Shane Ingram reached on an infield single to load the bases for Matt Yeager.

Yeager came through with a sacrifice fly to right field, allowing Skoog to score the Jackets’ final run.

Jimenez walked Ryan Salter to lead off the sixth inning and Zach Voight singled with one out. Bubba Roddy was hit by a pitch on a full count, which loaded the bases for Jesek.

“We played some defense and that’s what you’ve got to do this time of year,” Taylor said. “People are going to put the ball in play.”

Jesek lined out to shortstop Frankie Valdez for the second out of the inning.

Valdez attempted to double up Voight at second, but his throw got by second baseman Hector Juarez, allowing Salter to score.

Jimenez got out of the jam when Will Klausing flied out to right field.

“He was getting around to the point where they had seen him a couple times,” Taylor said. “It’s hard for a guy that doesn’t throw very hard to see the same guy four times. You can usually get by once or twice, maybe three times, but it gets tough around that fourth time.”

Valdez came on to pitch the seventh inning for Cleburne. He allowed singles to Justin Smithers and Salter.

With two on and two out, Will Nelson hit a pop fly in foul territory on the first base side and Martinez was able to track the ball down near the fence for the final out of the game.

“Tonight, Bono [Jimenez] did a good job of keeping us in the game,” Taylor said. “He threw strikes and we made some plays. We caught a lot of balls up against the wall out there, but he did a good job. Frankie came in and did a good job closing right there. We get to play another day.

“I believe it’s going to be a dogfight,” he added. “It’s one of those deals where they’re going to throw the same guy against us that they did in Game 3 last year, so we’ll see what happens.”

        

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