Bowie Baseball bows out of the playoffs

May 18, 2012

Austin Lucas (#23) at first base.

By Patrick Olson

Finishing fourth in district, the Bowie baseball team drew District 16-5A champion Round Rock in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs. Despite having a pair of talented starting pitchers, the Bulldogs sustained a 5-0 defeat on Thursday and a slim 2-1 loss on Friday. “We competed well this year,” coach Rudy Alvarez said. “We won 17 games and that’s pretty good.”

Third baseman Eddie Flores kept the Dragon offense in check with an outstanding defensive play on the corner in the third inning versus Round Rock. Starting pitcher Robbie Dickey walked a batter with two outs in the fourth, before a Dragon batter reached base via an infield hit on a classic case of the tie goes to the runner. The home team then erupted with five runs, beginning with a slicing RBI hit to right field that Bulldog outfielder Austin Eschenburg valiantly tried to snag.

The Bowie batters hit the ball well, but repeatedly Dragon infielders were in the perfect position to make a play. On Saturday, Kurt Clark took the mound and limited the Round Rock bats to only a pair of runs. The Bulldogs amassed five hits and crossed the plate in the second, but the Dragons held firm to preserve the win.

Nine players depart via graduation for Bowie, including all-district pitchers Clark and Dickey. Both Jay-Conor Kruczkowski and AJ LaVeau worked well defensively for Alvarez at catcher and centerfield respectively. Austin Lucas played first base when Dickey took the hill and southpaw Daniel Sanchez shined in a relief pitching role. Zach Poehl received honorable mention on the all-district squad. “Zach is a sturdy, good shortstop,” Alvarez added. “He hit the ball pretty well.”

Left fielder Jonathan Ramirez collected three hits in Bowie’s last game and Jacob Soliz worked at second base and served as the team’s number eight hitter. Bowie will hold their baseball banquet on Sunday, May 20th at the Painted Horse Pavillion in Buda beginning at 5 p.m.