The Fairfield Eagles defeated the Little River Academy Bees in the Bi-District Championship in a best of three series this past week. Fairfield moves to 19-5 on the season.
“I am super proud of our players,” Coach Dalton Tharp said. “Our kids were resilient and never flinched. Even when we dropped the first game of the series, we knew what was at stake. We took the mentality of there is no tomorrow. Win the war, not the battle. Our kids embraced that and played fearlessly the rest of the series.”
Fairfield will now take on the Whitney Wildcats (19-9) in the Area Championship this weekend at Ennis High School. The first game is scheduled for Thursday, May 8, at 7 p.m. The second game is scheduled for Friday, May 9, at 7 p.m. The third game, if necessary, will be played on Saturday, May 10, at 2 p.m.
Fairfield lost the first game of the series, 2-0, on Thursday, May 1.
Both teams had three hits. Cal Wilson, Landon Cockerell, and Rustyn Taylor each had one hit for the Eagles. Gustavo Aguilera pitched all seven innings and struck out nine batters.
The second game of the series was pushed back two hours, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., due to the rain on Friday, May 2. The Eagles came out on top of the Bees 15-9.
Fairfield had 16 hits during the game as Little River Academy had 12 hits. Kohl Collins and Aguilera had four hits each. Justin Johnson and Connor Colvert had two hits each as Wilson, Angel Serrato, Dylon Mc-Gowan, and Taylor each had one hit.
Colvert pitched three innings. Cockerell pitched four innings and struck out two batters.
The Eagles and Bees matched up on Saturday, May 3, for the final game of the series. When all was said and done, the Eagles came out on top 4-3.
Little River Academy got on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the third inning. In the top of the fourth, Cockerell scored on a hit by Taylor to tie the game at one.
In the top of the fifth, McGowan scored on a double by Johnson to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead. The Bees answered back in the bottom of the inning to notch the game at two.
The Bees scored a run in the bottom of the third inning to take a 3-2 lead.
Johnson scored for the Eagles in the top of the seventh inning on a single by Colvert to tie the game at 3. Collins scored on an error by the catcher to give the Eagles a 4-3 lead. Fairfield took the victory after three strikeouts in the bottom of the inning.
Fairfield had 11 hits in the game as Little River Academy had five hits. Johnson led the way with three hits as Colvert and Taylor had two hits each. Wilson, Serrato, McGowan, and Collins had one hit each.
Cockerell pitched two and two thirds innings. Colvert pitched two and two thirds innings and struck out one batter. Aguilera pitched one inning and struck out one batter. Serrato pitched two thirds of an inning and struck out two batters.
According to Tharp, winning a playoff series was a goal the team set this year. As far as he knows, this is the first time Fairfield baseball has won a playoff series in school history. The last playoff win was 7-5 over Cameron Yoe in 2023.
Cal Wilson waits for the perfect pitch to hit for the Eagles. Photos by Mitchell Pate/Recorder-Chronicle
Kohl Collins gets his lead off from first base to run to second base.
