The final week of the regular season began Tuesday night at Jersey Village High School. The Spartans needed to win both games this week to secure a playoff spot in District 17-6A.

Stratford Spartans vs. Jersey Village, Tuesday April 23rd , 2024

The first inning saw both teams go scoreless until the top of the 2nd. Blake Barry would start the inning with a hard-hit ball that the Jersey Village SS couldn’t handle. Luke Zilafro would walk, and Henry Braniff would load the bases with a single to left. Rylan Reichenau would deliver a 2-run single on a hard-hit ball to CF, making the score 2-0 Spartans. Carson Craft was dominant on the mound all night for Stratford. The big righty dominated the Falcons' lineup for 5 innings only allowing 2 hits, 1ER, while striking out 4. Stratford would strike again in the third inning. Maddox Garnero would mash a double to the RCF gap and be brought home by a Zilafro's single to left. After Barry and Reichenau walked to load the bases, Ethan Gentil would extend the lead to 4-0 on a third walk of the inning. In the bottom of the 6th, Walker Sage was called on out of the bullpen. Sage would hold the Falcons down the final two innings of the game to secure the win for the Spartans, 4-1.

Stratford Spartans vs. Jersey Village, Friday April 26th, 2024

Friday night was a “win and you’re in” game for the Spartans. Win the season finale and you are in the State Playoffs. Caden Baker would lead off the home half of the 1st inning with a walk. Braxton Wakefield would continue his season-long string of clutch hits with a single to right, advancing Baker to third. Maddox Garnero would deliver his 21st RBI of the season with a sacrifice fly to CF, making it 1-0 Spartans. In the bottom of the 2nd, Chris Johnson would lead off the inning with a single to center. Blake Harrison would enter to run for Johnson and advance all the way over to third on wild pitches. Henry Braniff would make the score 2-0 on a sac fly to center, scoring Harrison. The score would stay 2-0 until the 4th when the Spartans would add 2 more runs.

Braniff started the inning with a hard single to left. Rylan Reichenau would walk, followed by an Ethan Gentil single to left to load the bases. Baker would bring home Braniff and Reichenau on a hard-hit ball to the second baseman that he was unable to handle.

Thomas Cloud took the ball from Coach Richards in the big game and delivered. Cloud went 5 strong innings, allowing zero runs, scattering 3 hits, and striking out 6. The Falcons would come to bat in the top of the 7th down 4-0, needing 4 runs to tie the game and extend to extra innings. That is exactly what they did. At the end of the 7th, the score was tied 4-4, and extra innings would be needed to decide a winner.

Christian Ramirez would hold the Falcons scoreless in 1.1 innings of work, giving his team a chance to win the game in the 7th and 8th innings. The Spartans were unable to add a run in the bottom of the 7th or 8th inning. Caden Cooper was called upon in the 9th to once again keep the Falcons off the board. He would shut Jersey Village down with an overpowering fastball and a mix of off-speed to keep the score 4-4 as the game went to the bottom of the 9th.

Garnero began the inning with a hard-hit single to left followed by a Blake Barry single to right. With runners on 1st and 2nd, Chris Johnson would execute a bunt single to third to load the bases with no outs. Owen Bennett was called upon to pinch hit and delivered. He would work the count in his favor and watch ball 4 for a bases-loaded walk to give the Spartans the 5-4 victory AND the two wins they needed to secure a playoff spot.

This week’s Varsity Baseball Schedule:

Playoff schedule TBD

The Stratford Baseball Family would like to congratulate senior Carson Craft on his commitment last week to continue his baseball playing career at Cisco College!! Way to go, Carson!