ROUND ROCK -- The early wake-up call didn't faze the Beckville Bearcats, and neither did the professional baseball venue.

Beckville calmy went about its business in much the same fashion of its regular season, disposing of Stamford, 9-0, in their Class 2A state semifinal Wednesday morning in front of 873 fans at Dell Diamond.

The Bearcats (33-1-1) will face Flatonia at 9 a.m. Thursday for their first baseball state championship.

"I give credit to our kids because they came out and didn't get overwhelmed with having to get up early, and they really didn't get overwhelmed with the environment," said Beckville coach Jason Causey. "Last year I had a young group, and we got beat in the regional finals, and I think they just have a common goal of trying to win this thing."

Sophomore right-hander Ethan Harris struck out nine in a four-hit shutout and improved to 14-0 on the season, while the Beckville bats came alive with four runs in the fourth and five more in the sixth.

"We were trying to take some pitches the first time through the order just so we could see what (Stamford pitcher Ligon West) had," Causey said. "Usually the second time through the order we have a little bit more success. Today it just happened a little bit later."

John Bounds, who finished 2-for-2, had the game's biggest hit -- a bases-loaded, three-run double that pushed Beckville's lead over Stamford (22-6) to 4-0 with two outs in the fifth.

Bearcats nine-hole hitter Brandt Harris delivered an RBI single earlier in the inning for the game's first run.

"We finally got some big hits," Causey said. "Brandt Harris came up with that big single to kinda get us going, and (Bounds) hit the ball to deep center field and it kinda opened it up for us a little bit."

Beckville sent 11 batters to the plate in the sixth, breaking the game wide open with five runs, which included Ty Jones' two-RBI double.

Zach Collins aided in the Bearcats' eight-hit attack by going 2-for-3 with an RBI and scoring twice.

Ethan Harris walked three batters and issued two wild pitches, but stranded six Stamford runners -- all in scoring position.

"Ethan did a fantastic job, that's something he's done for us for two years now as a sophomore," Causey said. "His last two outings, he's done really well but he walked too many guys. Today he kept his walks in check a little bit, and we played some defense behind him. We were fortunate enough to get out of some jams."

Coeby Dodson drew a leadoff walk to begin the Beckville fourth, and then moved to second on Jones' sacrifice bunt. Brandt Harris then singled through the right side for a 1-0 lead.

Consecutive walks to Braden Wise and Collins loaded the bases with two outs for Bounds, whose line drive fell just over the head of the Stamford center fielder, plating three runs.

Prior to Jones' two-run double in the sixth, Collins and Ben Bridges had RBI singles and another Beckville run came home on one of four errors committed by the Stamford defense.

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Beckville 9, Stamford 0

Class 2A State Semifinal
At Dell Diamond, Round Rock

Stamford          000    000    0    --    0    4    4
Beckville           000    405    x    --    9    8    1

Pitchers and catchers

  • Stamford: Ligon West, Wesley Gonzales (6) and Gonzales, Aggassi Hernandez
  • Beckville: Ethan Harris and Ben Bridges

 

WP -- Harris (14-0)
LP -- West (10-2)

 

Doubles

  • Stamford: West
  • Beckville: John Bounds, Ty Jones

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