No shows missed a great game

Let me make one thing perfectly clear.  I hate to lose.

Whether it’s football, basketball, baseball, marbles, chess, radio ratings, or Texas Hold ‘Em, if the score isn’t in my favor, I am not a happy camper.  That attitude probably fits any competitive person and it’s been that way for me since Little League in 1957, when I first learned to ride the pine.

All that being said, last Thursday, I witnessed a baseball game at Bulldawg Field which was played so well, with such flair and drama, I truly felt it was a rotten shame that one side had to suffer the sting of defeat.

It was a District 8-6A contest between Copperas Cove and Harker Heights, in fact this was their second tilt in two days, due to weather.  Heights came in after a Wednesday night 4-3 win and all day long the topic among baseball fans was could either team get any offense unleashed?  After looking at the probable pitching matchup, that was a question worth asking.

When the starters were announced, it was confirmed that fans were in line to watch what could be a stemwinder.

Harker Heights sent one of the league’s best hurlers, Daniel Cole, to the mound, while Cove countered with a sharp, crafty left hander in Jaylen Smith, another of the district’s aces.  Both have good velocity and each possesses a curve they can bend around a barrel.  More questions.

What’s Cole’s pitch count?  He’s got 97 to go before reaching the 110-pitch limit.  How about Smith?  He’s got a full 110 to work with.  Then, the duel began.

Inning after inning it continued; strikeouts, groundouts, fly outs.  One hit apiece.  Bases loaded, no one scores until the top of the seventh inning.

Heights managed to juice the bags and a walk forces in a run. 

In the home half, Cole reaches his limit two batters in, the Dawgs are retired on a grounder to short and that was all she wrote.  The Heights fans rejoice, the Bulldawg fans are left stunned.

Both teams played lights out defense and the pitchers were on.  It was a game for the ages.

Forget it.  A new pairing opens tonight at the Dawg House, when Killeen drops in for a 7 p.m. first pitch.  I don’t know if it will turn out like last week, but one thing’s for sure.

Cove baseball fans will remember April 13, 2017 and the Cove-Heights game as long as baseball is played at Bulldawg Field.

Go Dawgs!