Broncos outlast Tors in 15 innings
Rodrick Anderson
SULPHUR — Dylan Thibodeaux, Dylan Thompson and Dallas Rhodes had clutch performances Thursday as the Broncos pulled out a 4-3 15-inning win over Sulphur.
With one out in the top of the 15th inning, Thompson hit a double off the right-field wall for his first hit of the game and reached third on an error. Rhodes, who started on the mound and remained in the game as a designated hitter, ripped a single up the middle to bring home Thompson.
Rhodes pitched seven innings, holding the Tors to three runs, one earned, on four hits and was the Broncos top hitter, going 4-for-7.
“Rhodes has struggled on the mound a little bit of late and threw really well tonight,” Sam Houston head coach Chad Hebert said. “We messed up a play in the end that would have got him the win. He did not lose his composure and gets the big hit at the end.
“He (Thompson) made a couple of errors and didn’t have a hit all night, but he stays in the game and hits the (double) to be the winning run.”
Thibodeaux, a senior right-handed submarine hurler, pitched eight scoreless innings to earn the win after relieving Rhodes in the eighth inning. Thibodeaux held the Tors to two hits with five strikeouts and two walks.
“Dylan Thibodeaux has been a one or two inning reliever all year long,” Sam Houston head coach Chad Hebert said. “We came into tonight as a staff knowing that we could only use two pitchers a day over the next three days being that we have three games in three days with the rainout.
“That kid hasn’t thrown 115 pitches in a month, and basically through a complete game tonight and really saved us.”
The Tors had a prime chance to win the game in the 14th after loading the bases with one out on an error, a double by Luke Benoit and an intentional walk. But the Tors couldn’t come up with the big hit.
“We were just looking for that big hit, that big moment,” Sulphur head coach Sam Moore said. ìIt just didn’t come.
“We have to put this one behind us, and we have to keep coming out and play baseball and get ready for Saturday. We are still in the thick of things. That was a good ball club we played, and we are a good ball club. We never should be underestimated. It is just a good high school baseball game. Both teams wanted to win. We just came up a little short, but it was not because of (lack of) effort.”
Sam Houston had prime opportunities to score from the eighth to the 11th inning with a runner reaching third base, but the Tors eight got a defensive web gem or a strikeout to end each threat.
In the top of the eighth inning, Sam Houston loaded the bases for what looked like a guaranteed lead, but the Tors got a force out at the plate and right fielder Riley Dougherty turned a shallow pop fly into a double play, gunning down Jordan Thompson at the plate.
Sam Houston had another golden opportunity in the top of the 10th. Thompson led off with a double but was thrown out at the plate by Sulphur shortstop Kade McBride.
Tor relief pitcher Landon Arrant (3-5) ended the 10th and 11th inning with a strikeout with a runner on third base. Arrant pitched seven innings with five strikeouts, four walks and one run on six hits in the loss.
Sulphur starting pitcher Kade McBride went eight innings. He allowed three runs, one earned, on seven hits with four strikeouts and two walks.
Sam Houston took a 3-2 lead in the fourth inning on Carson Devillier’s RBI single. That lead held until the bottom of the seventh inning when the Tors’ Walker Bridges scored on an error.
Sam Houston was able to scratch across a pair of runs in the second inning on an error and a sacrifice fly by Alex Norris.
Sulphur got a run back in the bottom of the second on Keilan Broussard’s ground out and tied the game at 2-2 on Gage Trahan’s sac fly with the bases loaded in the third inning.
Sam Houston4
Sulphur3
S Houston020 100 000 000 001—4-13-5
Sulphur011 000 001 000 000—3-6-2
PITCHING: W — Dylan Thibodeaux. L — Landon Arrant.
TOP HITTERS: Sam Houston — Ashton Fuselier 2-6, Andrew Glass 2-5 (double), Dallas Rhodes 4-7 (RBI), Austin Blankenship 2-3 (run). Sulphur — Riley Dougherty 1-4 (run), Luke Benoit 1-6 (double).
RECORDS: Sam Houston — 24-5, 7-3. Sulphur — 15-16, 7-4.
Sam Houston starting Dallas Rhodes took a no-decision Thursday but drove in the winning run in the Broncos’ 4-3 15-inning win over Sulphur.
Sam Houston’s left fielder Ashton Fusilier makes a catch while falling backwards in the wet conditions against Sulphur at McMurray Park Thursday. Sam Houston beat Sulphur 4-3 in 15 innings.