Westwood falls to Madisonville

By SALLY SEXTON
The Palestine Herald

April 09, 2008 11:28 am

— Westwood came within an out of getting its first district win Tuesday night, but a Madisonville rally cut it short as the Mustangs defeated the Panthers 7-5 at Nichols Field.
“Defensively we’ve been solid the last three games, but we made a couple of errors and some passed balls in key situations,” Westwood head coach William Raphelt said. “We had some opportunities on offense with guys in scoring position, but we just couldn’t score.
“We’ve got to learn how to clutch hit in crucial situations.”
The Panthers got on the scoreboard first when Sam Dunnam reached on an error and scored on Austin Atchley’s two-out single to make it 1-0.
Westwood continued to pound out the runs in the bottom of the third inning when Ryan Mackie got things started by reaching on a fielder’s choice.
Seth Gilkey followed with a single to advance Mackie, and Dunnam hit a two-RBI double to the center field wall to give Westwood a 4-1 lead.
Zak Dennison continued the assault with a single up the middle to score Dunnam, and Atchley’s base-hit capped off the run as the Mustangs got a groundout on the next pitch to end the inning.
Madisonville began to scratch away at the deficit in the top of the fourth as three of the first four batters scored on a triple that snuck between the left fielder and center fielder and made it 5-4.
The Mustangs tied the game at 5-5 in the fifth inning as the Panthers began to struggle from the mound, giving up five walks and two passed balls in the last three innings, including one that gave the Mustangs their first lead of the game at 6-5.
The Panthers had a chance to rally in the bottom of the seventh when Gilkey and Dunnam reached on a walk and a single, and Denison drew a two-out walk to load the bases.
But Madisonville got the last batter to ground out to shortstop to end the rally and the game.
“We’ve got to finish off the season strong, and I’ve got a lot of faith in this team,” Raphelt said.
Westwood will play in Mexia Friday night.

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Sally Sexton can be reached via e-mail at sports2@palestineherald.com