The Nocona Indians earned their first district win on Tuesday at home against City View in a game they came back from an early deficit.
The Indians won 8-6, but found themselves behind early in the game.
The Mustangs scored two runs in the first inning thanks to two fielding errors and a single. After Nocona failed to get a runner on base, City View added two more runs in the second inning thanks to a walk, a single and a passed ball.
The Indians found themselves behind 4-0 and needed something to change momentum. Wesley Murphey drew a walk to lead off for Nocona. An error at first base trying to pick him off allowed him to reach second base.
Carlos Castro laid down a bunt to move him to third base. An error from the Mustangs fielding the play not only allowed Castro to reach second base, but Murphey to score, cutting the lead to 4-1.
Nocona looked to score more as Johnny Stone was able to get on base due to another fielding error. Unfortunately, City View’s defense redeemed itself as the team pulled off an inning ending double play to get out of the jam.
The Indians defense cleaned up their play in the third inning. Only a two out single and a passed ball threatened Nocona as the defense made the routine plays for all three outs.
On the other side, the Indians kept taking advantage of City View’s defensive mistakes. Ty Presley drew a walk with one out. After a passed ball allowed him to reach second, Trey Pepper’s fly ball produced an error that allowed him to reach first and Presley third.
An error at catcher allowed Presley to score and Pepper to advance to third base. Kooper Hansard then grounded out to second base, but it was enough to drive Pepper home and cut the lead to 4-3.
Presley had a great inning on the mound as he struck out the side for Nocona. A dropped third strike was redeemed as the batter was thrown out before he got to first base.
On offense, good things continued to happen as the Indians kept benefiting from Mustang errors. Colton Russell led off with a single. A stolen base and a ground out allowed him to reach third base with two outs. An error trying to pick him off at third allowed him to score and tie up the game.
Charlie Fuller and Miguel Olivares then hit back-to-back singles. An error trying to field Olivares hit into the outfield allowed Fuller to score and give Nocona the lead 5-4.
Hansard came in to pitch starting the fifth inning. A one out single provided pressure as the base runner stole second and third base to put him in scoring position to tie the game. Fortunately, Hansard was able to strike out the final batter for the third out.
The Indians offense kept up its assault. Pepper and Hansard led off with back-to-back singles. Pepper stole second base, which put him on third base following Hansard’s hit.
Murphey hit a fly ball into right field for an out, but it was deep enough for Pepper to score.
Russell then came up to bat and hit a double into right field. Castro then came up to bat and grounded out to third base, but it drove in Hansard to up the lead to 7-4.
Hansard struck out the side in the sixth inning to keep City View from building any momentum as Nocona had a firm control of the game.
Olivares was able to draw a walk with one out for the Indians. A ground out and a steal moved him to third base with two outs. It looked like he might get stranded there as Pepper’s ground ball was fielded by the catcher. A bad throw for an error not only allowed Pepper to reach second, but Olivares to score and up the lead to 8-4. Pepper’s bid to steal third base was snuffed out for the third out to end the sixth inning.
It looked like the game was about to be wrapped up, but City View had one last gasp trying to come back in its final at-bats.
A dropped third strike allowed the leadoff runner to get on base. A passed ball and a stolen base allowed him to reach third before a shallow pop out led to the first out. A ground out to first base followed for the second out, but it allowed the runner on third base to score.
The next batter hit a fly ball, but the Indians defense committed an error that allowed the batter to reach second base. A passed ball put another runner on third base, before a single drove him home and cut the lead to 8-6.
A balk then allowed the base runner to reach second base. Hansard was then able to put an end to it all as he struck out the batter for the final out of the game.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.