L.D. Bell Tops Southlake Carroll 8-2

HURST, TX - Tuesday night was a showdown in District 5-6A between the L.D. Bell Blue Raiders and the Southlake Carroll Dragons. Southlake, ranked No. 4 in the PBR Texas Power 25 rankings, entered the contest at 9-1 in district, 21-5 overall. L.D. Bell has been making noise all year, posting a 17-7 overall record, and sitting just a game behind the Dragons at 8-2 in district. Two highly touted pitchers faced off in what could decide the district champion, 2019 RHP Mason Ornelas for L.D. Bell, and 2018 LHP Adam Stephenson for Carroll.

Southlake got a run in the first when Adam Stephenson doubled and three batters later, Nik Millsap drove him in with a laser sac fly to left field.

Coach Gibson’s Raider club played the aggressor all night, scoring in each of the first four innings. In the bottom of the first, Blake Empkey singled to centerfield, driving in SS Michael Bernhardt. Three pitches later, Reece Gould scored on a wild pitch. They added a run in the bottom of the second, this time scoring on back-to-back errant picks at second base. 3-1 Bell.

In the third, L.D. Bell loaded the bases with no outs after a single by Reece Gould, a Plunkett walk, and Blake Empkey singled on a drag bunt. Gould scored on a passed ball, then Mason Ornelas hit a sac fly to score Plunkett’s pinch runner. Empkey scored the 6th run on an infield error. 6-0 Blue Raiders.

Southlake Carroll had opportunities to score throughout the night, loading the bases again in the fourth with two outs, but they only managed one run on a wild pitch. 6-2 Bell

In the fourth, Empkey came up with another big hit for the Blue Raiders, this time a slicing line drive to left field that scored Bernhardt and Suarez.

Blue Raider starter 2019 RHP Mason Ornelas, a Texas A&M commit, settled in after the first inning, ultimately going 6 strong innings, working around 6 hits and four walks, to allow only 2 runs, 1 earned. 2018 RHP Johnny Sifuentes worked a 1-2-3 seventh inning to clinch the victory for L.D. Bell. Final Score: Bell 8, Carroll 2. With the victory, Bell moves into a first place tie at 9-2 with Southlake Carroll, setting up a huge matchup on Friday night that could ultimately decide first place in district 5-6A.

STATS

L.D. Bell
Ornelas: (W) 6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 K, 4 BB. Batting: 1-2, RBI.
Sifuentes: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 K.
Bernhardt: 1-2, 2 R, 2 SB, 2 BB
Gould: 2-4, 2 R
Empkey: 3-4, 3 RBI, 2B, R

Southlake Carroll
Stephenson: 2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, K, 2 BB. Batting: 3-4, R
Bell: 2-3
Hill: 1-3

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Look for Scout Notes and Video from this game in the next couple of days.

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