The Nocona baseball team picked up a dramatic win against Henrietta at home on Friday in extra innings.
The Indians won on a walk-off RBI from Vinit Patel in the ninth inning to win 10-9 for Nocona’s second district win of the season.
The game did not start off well for the Indians. The Bearcats scored four runs in the first inning thanks to three hits, a walk, a fielding error and a passed ball.
The Indians could not respond and the teams exchanged a scoreless second inning before the Henrietta scored one run in the third inning to buff its lead to 5-0.
Nocona answered that run as Patel led off with a single. An error allowed him to reach second base. Trey Pepper’s hit to the shortstop produced another error that allowed Patel to reach third base and Pepper second base.
Kooper Hansard then grounded out to the shortstop, but it drove in Patel to cut the lead to 5-1. The Indians would load the bases with drawn walks from Ty Presley and Wesley Murphy, but the next batter flew out to center field for the third out.
The Bearcats were able to load the bases up with two hit batters and one drawn walk in the fourth inning. A passed ball allowed two runs to score as Henrietta added to its lead 7-1.
The Bearcats added two more runs in the fifth inning on another passed ball and a fielding error at first base. Henrietta led 9-1 and was in control of the game.
Nocona was able to cut into that lead a bit. Presley would rive in two runs with a single in the same inning to make the score 9-3 heading into the sixth inning.
Despite Henrietta getting two runners on base to lead off the inning, pitcher Hansard struck out two of the next three batters and forced a ground out to prevent the Bearcats from adding to their lead.
This allowed the Indians to have a huge inning with their bats. Colton Russell led off with a single. Miguel Olivares laid down a bunt that produced an error that allowed Russell to score and Olivares to reach second base.
Johnny Stone and Patel followed by drawing two walks to load the bases with no outs. A passed ball allowed Olivares to score. Trey Pepper drew another walk that loaded the bases. Another passed ball allowed Stone to score. With two outs Pepper scored on another passed ball, the third one this inning as it cleared the bases.
Presley was able to get on base thanks to an error in the outfield. He would then steal second base before Murphey drove him in with a double. It was the sixth run of the inning and it tied the score at 9-9.
Russell hit a groundball to the shortstop and another error allowed him to get on base and Murphey on third base. Russell then stole second base as Nocona had two runners in scoring position ready to take the lead. Unfortunately the next batter grounded out to end the inning.
The two teams exchanged scoreless seventh and eighth innings. The Indians had the best chance to win in the seventh inning, loading the bases with one out. Unfortunately, two pop outs followed to end that chance and extend the game.
Stone led off the ninth inning with a single for Nocona. He would then steal second bases to put himself into scoring position. The next pitch Patel hit a line drive into right field that allowed Stone to score, ending the game with the Indians winning 10-9.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.