Brook Hill Advances to the State Championship After Defeating McKinney Christian 8-1

On Monday afternoon, the Brook Hill Guard defeated the McKinney Christian Mustangs in an 8-1 win advancing to the state championships. The guard will play Bay Area Christian in the state championship game on Tuesday, May 14 at 10 am.

Brook Hill started off the scoring early. In the top of the first after a walk from Cooper Schock and a single from Samuel Williams, Lex Rich drove in Schock for the first run of the game on a sacrifice fly. However, Mustang Pitcher Connor Jarzombek was able to get out of the inning without allowing another run to score.

The Mustangs attempted to match the score in the bottom of the first, yet they were unsuccessful as Brook Hill’s Starting Pitcher Ben Braatz got all three Mustang Batters out on just 11 pitches.

The Guard continued dominating on the offensive side of the game, driving in three runs in the top of the second. After the bases were loaded by a pair of singles from Ben Braatz and Levi Visser, and a walk from Luke Visser, Cooper Schock cleared the bases on a three-run line drive double to center field making the score 5-0.

When talking with Schock after the game on his mindset during this vital at bat he said, “We knew he was going to try and pitch us backward, throw us a lot of outside and soft, and he did that on the first two pitches and I watched it. […] And then he threw another one and I hit it to right field and really got stuff going for us.”

In the bottom of the second, the Mustangs got their first hit of the game on a double from Judd Witte. However, Braatz struck out two and produced a pop-out to keep the Mustangs off the board.

Mustang Pitcher Connor Jarzombek ended Brook Hill’s scoring attempt on only 6 pitches in the top of the third inning.

In the bottom of the third, Ben Braatz attempted to do the same, getting all three Mustang batters out on 13 pitches.

After Ben Braatz singled on a line drive to left field in the top of the fourth, the Mustangs called Landen Jones in for relief. Shortly after, Luke Visser doubled driving in one more run, making the score 5-0 in favor of Brook Hill.

The Mustangs attempted to make a comeback in the bottom of the fourth with a lead-off single from John Clark. However, after a pop-out and a double play, the Mustangs still had 0 runs on the board.

Similarly, in the top of the fifth, after a ground-out and a single from Lex Rich, the Mustang defense ended the inning on a double play.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Mustangs got their first run of the game. After Judd Witte reached base on an error, Caden Brown drove him in on a two-out single. After the fifth inning, the Mustangs still trailed Brook Hill 5-1.

In the top of the sixth, Pitcher Landen Jones got all three Brook Hill Batters out on just 9 pitches.

After two quick outs on 5 pitches, Landen Jones attempted to add more runs to the board, doubling on a line drive to right field. However, Spivey Teague lined out to end the inning keeping the score 5-1 in favor of Brook Hill.

For cushion, Brook Hill added on 3 more runs in the top of the seventh. Luke Visser reached base on a single to center field and Cooper Schock drove him in on his second double of the game. Schock scored on a single from Samuel Williams, and Lex Rich drove in Williams on a fielder’s choice error. The Mustangs earned the remaining two outs on only 2 more pitches.

Going into the bottom of the seventh, the Mustangs needed 7 runs to keep the game going and 8 to win it. The Mustang scoring attempt started as Judd Witte reached base on an error. However, pitcher Ben Braatz struck out the next three batters to send the Brook Hill Guard to the state championship.

Brook Hill Pitcher Ben Braatz had a stellar day pitching all seven innings while only allowing one unearned run. He let up only 4 hits while walking 0 and striking out 8.

Looking ahead to Tuesday’s game, Schock says they will prepare by doing the same thing they will always do. “Same routine, same everything.” They will talk through the game plan, and of course, order their morning Starbucks.