By Brian Besch
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Livingston Lion baseball has ended the 2024 season as area finalists, dropping their final two games to state-ranked Longview Spring Hill. The Panthers won the two games played on the campus of Lufkin High School 3-0 and 7-2.
Spring Hill threatened in the third inning of Game 1 Thursday, but a Caden Vickery throw from first base to home plate was in time for Jordan Huson to tag out a sliding Panther and hold the scoreless tie.
However, in the fourth inning with two aboard, Spring Hill pitcher Cayden Rhodes helped his own cause, smacking a two-run double, and was followed by an RBI-single by Wyatt McFadden to provide the margin needed for victory. The run-producers hit eighth and ninth in the order.
Rhodes was excellent on the mound, going seven innings of shutout, two-hit baseball versus a Lion squad that had put up 17 runs over two bi-district playoff games a weekend before.
“We put the ball in play, but just hit the ball right at them,” Livingston coach David Miller said. “They made some great plays. I knew it was going to be a dogfight and going to be a tough team that we needed to find a way to beat. You tip your cap, because the Rhodes kid pitched his tail off. He kept us off balance and moved the ball in and out. He had a fastball and change up, and threw them for strikes.”
Jordan Bush pitched well for the Lions. In six innings of work, there was only one in which he did not put up a zero.
“Jordan pitched a heck of a game. A couple of pitches got away from him and we had to stop the bleeding,” Miller said. “I am not disappointed by any means in how he pitched. We didn’t make any mistakes defensively.”
Game 2 Friday was another close one for much of the contest. Grant Burton reached on an error and Carson Tidwell drove him in with a double to begin the game’s scoring in the first inning.
Livingston answered in the bottom half with a Karter Nelson single, Vickery sacrifice bunt, Jordan Bush walk, and a Huson single tied it.
Spring Hill scored again on a bunt single and two errors. A play at the plate had Copeland Bush’s mitt down in time for the tag, but the ball was kicked loose for a 2-1 advantage.
Keeping pace, Chevy Peters beat out an infield single, and teammates Jacob Collier and Karter Nelson collected base hits behind him. A sacrifice fly from Vickery drove in the second Lion run, tying it at two apiece.
In the fourth inning, with Panthers on the corners and two out, a controversial balk was called. Miller argued the call to no avail. It would break the tie, sending one runner to second and another home. That problem would be compounded when a hit by pitch and walk loaded the bases, and Tidwell emptied them with a three-run triple. Mackey followed him with an RBI-double, and the Panthers had broken the game open at 7-2.
“They said that he picked his foot up and went straight down without stepping forward (toward third base),” Miller said of arguing the balk call. “At the end of the day, you can’t control it. You have to roll through it and make the adjustment and get out of it. They got a little momentum there and they took advantage of it.”
The Lions threatened with a couple of runners in the seventh inning, but could not plate a run, ending the season in the area round. Kason Nelson gutted out seven innings of work on the mound for Livingston.
“I am proud of them. It was a roller coaster up and down, trying to figure out who we were. We finally figured it out toward the back half of district. They played their tails off. They overcame a lot and that’s why it hurts a little more when you see a group of young men grow and overcome and fight their way back to the playoff race. They not only fought their way back into it, but they get in and have success. It makes me extremely proud.”
Next year’s team will be a young one. Miller said he will find players that can compete as hard as possible. The Lions will graduate nine seniors off the 2024 team.
“They were juniors last year when I first met them and they have grown quite a bit. They bought in last year when we got here. Seeing them develop and continue to improve, they found ways to have success. We played together and that is all you can ask for as a head coach.”
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