Stratford Spartans Vs. Bridgeland Bears, Monday February 19th

The Spartans were victorious in their season opener vs. Bridgeland by a score of 7-2.

Down 2-0 in the Bottom of the 1st, the Spartans tied the game with a Triple by Rian Healy, scoring Caden Baker, and a walk by Braxton Wakefield. In the Bottom of the 2nd, Blake Barry broke the tie with a walk, and the Spartans put another run across on a Bridgeland error, making it 4-2 Stratford. The Spartans extended their lead in the third on a sac fly by Adam Gilbert to extend the lead to 5-2. Barry struck again in the 4th with a 2-out single through the right side, scoring Maddox Garnero to make it 6-2 Spartans. To continue the tradition of scoring in each inning of the game thus far, Rylan Reichenau provided a 2-out, RBI single to left field to score Gilbert and make it 7-2. Baker led the offense, going 3-4 with 2 runs scored out of the lead-off spot.

The pitching for the Spartans was on point all night. Thomas Cloud earned the W by going 4 innings, striking out 4, and scattering 4 hits. Supporting Cloud’s effort out of the Bullpen was Walker Sage, Carson Craft, and Caden Cooper, each providing 1 inning of dominant relief with no runs allowed.

Stratford Spartans Vs. Kinkaid, Thursday February 22nd

Game 1 to kick of Tournament season saw The Spartans face off against The Kinkaid Falcons at LaPorte High School. Maddox Garnero opened up the Top of the 1st with a Double down the left field line, scoring Caden Baker and Rian Healy. Henry Braniff continued the inning with a line drive to center, plating Garnero and making it 4-0 Spartans. Ethan Gentil and Adam Gilbert followed with RBI singles to bring home Braniff and Gentil, making the score 6-0 before Kinkaid has come to bat. In the Top of the 2nd, Healy led off the inning with a Double over the center fielder's head. At the end of the 2nd inning, the Spartans led 8-1. By the time Healy came up to bat in the 3rd inning for his third at-bat of the game, he had the bases loaded and 1 out…on the third pitch of the at-bat, he deposited a laser over the left centerfield fence for a Grand Slam to make it 12-1 Stratford. The Spartans would complete the onslaught of runs in the 5th and add a couple more runs to make it 14-7.

On the mound for Game 1 was Carson Craft. He dominated over 2 innings, allowing 2 hits, 1 Run, and striking out 1. Owen Bennett and Christian Ramirez finished off the game out of the pen to secure the victory and start the day off with a Victory.

Stratford Spartans vs. LaPorte, Thursday February 22nd

The boys turned right around in Game 2 and faced off against a tough LaPorte Bulldogs Team. They jumped on the Spartans early and put up 8 runs that proved to be too much to overcome. Stratford only managed to scratch out 2 hits over 5 innings and lost the nightcap 10 – 0 to the Bulldogs.

Stratford Spartans vs. Clear Springs, Friday February 23rd

The first match-up on Day 2 against the Clear Springs Chargers proved to be a great early-season, playoff-atmosphere test for the Spartans. Thomas Cloud toed the rubber for Stratford and in usual fashion, was an absolute animal over 5 innings. He allowed 5 hits and 4 runs (only 1 earned) and battled a tough Charger lineup all morning. He worked his way out of a mini jam in the 4th when there were runners on second and third in a tie ball game. The big right-hander Cloud struck out the Clear Springs lead-off batter to keep the game tied at 3. The excitement of the 3-pitch strikeout set the tone for the last 3 innings from both dugouts.

Stratford jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the Bottom of the 3rd. Caden Baker led off the inning with a single to center. Rian Healy would follow with a single to center to score Baker. Braxton Wakefield would step in and deliver a Triple to deep left field to score Healy. Maddox Garnero did his job with Wakefield on third and produced the third run of the inning with a sac fly to CF. Clear Springs would scratch out a couple of runs in the 4th. The teams would trade runs in the 5th with Wakefield remaining red-hot with a double and then coming around to score on an error by the Chargers, knotting up the score at 4 going into the 6th inning. Christian Ramirez came out of the bullpen in the 6th and sat down the Chargers 1-2-3 in the top half of the inning. Blake Barry led off the bottom of the 6th with a single, but the Spartans were unable to get him around and the score remained tied at 4. The top of the 7th saw Ramirez back out on the mound, and he delivered once again. After a lead-off walk to the 2-hole hitter, Ramirez sat down 3 of the next 4 batters to keep the game tied at 4 and the Spartans a chance to win it in the Bottom of the 7th.

Baker would lead off the B7 with a walk in a 7-pitch at-bat. Healy executed a perfect sacrifice bunt to advance Baker to second base. Wakefield stepped up to the plate with the winning run 180 feet away. On the second pitch, Baker took off for a steal of third. The throw to third by the Chargers' catcher went wide of third down the LF line. Baker bounced up and raced home to secure the Walk Off Win for the Spartans in Game 2. For his 2 innings of scoreless relief, Ramirez secured the win for his team.

Stratford Spartans vs Clear Brook, Friday February 23rd

The second game of the day saw the Spartans face the Clear Brook Wolverines. When Stratford came to bat in the bottom of the 1st, they were facing a 1-0 deficit early. Caden Baker would lead the inning off with a walk and come around to score after stealing 2nd and 3rd base, and tying the game at 1-1 on a wild pitch. The 2nd inning would see Stratford grab the lead with a 2-out Triple by Carson Craft to the RCF gap to score Ethan Gentil, who got on with a 2-out walk. The game would be tied up at 2 in the Top of the 4th when the Wolverines tied it up. In the bottom half of the 4th, the Spartans would take the lead they would not relinquish. Braniff laced a 1-out line drive over the right fielder for a Triple. Craft would walk, and with 2 outs, Timothy Winter hit the first pitch he saw to left, scoring Braniff and giving Stratford the 3-2 lead they would hold on to. Caden Cooper started the game and earned the win going 4 2/3 innings, allowing 1 earned run and striking out 7. The big right-hander was in control all game and proved to be too much for the Clear Springs Wolverines. In the Top of the 5th and with 2 outs, Coach Richards called upon the Junior lefty Ford Givens to get the team out of the inning with a 3-2 lead. It only took Givens 1 pitch to sit down the opponent and get out of the inning with a ground-out to Braxton Wakefield. Givens would come out again for the 6th inning and holding a 3-2 lead, needing three outs to secure the second win of the day for the Spartans. Givens would strike out 1 and get two more outs via the fly ball and ground ball to give the boys a 2-0 record on Saturday. With that, Givens earned his first save of the season.

Stratford Spartans vs Deer Park, Saturday February 24th

To wrap up the Tournament weekend, the Spartans would face off against a good Deer Park ball club in LaPorte. Deer Park would jump out to an early 1-0 lead in the Bottom of the 1st. The Spartans were quick to respond in the Top of the 2nd. Powered by walks by Henry Braniff and Owen Bennett, along with a hard-hit ball by Luke Zilafro, Caden Baker drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game at 1. With Rian Healy at the plate with the bases loaded, the Deep Park pitcher unleashed a wild pitch to score courtesy runner Cooper Harrison, making it 2-1 Spartans. Braxton Wakefield would step to the plate and rifle a ball over the centerfielder's head and clear the bases with a 2RBI Triple, making it 4-1. The Spartans wouldn’t look back from there. Braniff would step up to the plate in the 3rd and deposit his first homerun of the season over the LCF fence to make it 5-1. The Deer would add a run in the 4th to make it 5-2. Coming to bat in the last inning, the Top of the 7th proved to be an inning with more fireworks. A double by Maddox Garnero and a single by Blake Barry would score Healy and Wakefield to make it 7-2.

Carson Craft started the game for the Spartans and was dominant over 5 strong innings of work. He battled The Deer all day and proved to be too much. His 90-mph fastball struck out 6 while he  scattered 3 hits on the day. Burke Malloy and Braxton Wakefield came in to close out the game for the Spartans over the last 2 innings and secure the 7-4 win. Wakefield earned the save for his efforts in 1 2/3 innings of relief.

The Varsity Spartans went 4-1 on the weekend and are looking ahead to The San Antonio Comal Canes Classic.

Next Week’s Varsity Baseball Schedule

2/29, 2 pm vs. Marshall @ Boerne Champion High School

2/29, 5 pm vs. Boerne Champion @ Boerne Champion High School

3/1, 11 am vs. Central Catholic @ Pieper High School

3/1, 2 pm vs. Pieper HS @ Pieper High School

3/2, TBD (San Antonio area)