Bombers catch fire after a slow start and beat the Chanclas, 6-3

Down by three runs early, the Brazos Valley Bombers rallied behind the clutch hitting of Wesley Faison and Taylor Smith Friday night to beat the Flying Chanclas, 6-3, in Bryan.

Faison, from Texas State University, reached base four times, had three hits and drove in three runs while Smith, from Texas A&M, produced a couple of hits and two RBI.

As a result, the Bombers (13-9) pulled to within a half game of the first-place Chanclas (13-8) in the South Division of the Texas Collegiate League.

Logan Teske, Jack Brinley and Luke Bailey combined to hold the Chanclas to six hits, including only three after the first inning, as the Bombers evened a six-game series at 2-2.

The Chanclas won two of three this week in San Antonio, including the last two at Wolff Stadium.

But as the series shifted to Bryan, the Bombers shrugged off a bad-hair first inning and prevailed on a windy night at Travis Field.

After falling behind 3-0 in the first, they scored two runs in the second inning and one in the third off Chanclas starter Derek Klosowski. They added two in the fifth off Jaime Ramirez Jr. to take charge.

Eight games remain in the regular season for both teams. The Chanclas and Bombers will play again Saturday and Sunday night in Bryan.

In the TCL, the top two teams in each division make the playoffs. Meaning that, if the Chanclas and Bombers remain 1-2 in the South as they are now, they would meet in a best-of-three first round series.

The winner of the two divisional series would meet in a one-game, winner-take-all game for the TCL title.

In the top of the first, Tyler LaRue drove in a run with a single and Lee Thomas added a two-run double off Bombers starter Logan Teske as the Chanclas took a 3-0 lead.

Teske, from Clemens High School and Southeastern Oklahoma, settled down to pitch three scoreless innings.

Bombers reliever Jack Brinley took the mound next and kept the Chanclas off the board for the next three. Bailey closed it out.

The big right-hander gave up a one-out double to Johnny Hernandez in the top of the ninth. But he retired Grant Smith and Kyte McDonald to end it.

Runs-hits-errors

San Antonio — 3 6 2
Brazos Valley — 6 8 1
Please click on the link to see Friday night’s box score.

Records

San Antonio 13-8
Brazos Valley 13-9

Coming up

San Antonio at Brazos Valley, 7:05 p.m. Saturday, at Bryan.