AUSTIN — The Bastrop Bears baseball team appeared to be caught into a defensive battle with the McAllen Bulldogs Thursday night in their opener at the Austin ISD Baseball Tournament.
Such was not the case.
Bastrop’s bats came alive in the third inning and the Bears cruised to a 12-7 victory over the Bulldogs at Nelson Field in Austin.
“That’s a good way to open the tournament,” said head coach Mark Williams. “We hit the ball well and played good defense, but the important thing was we took advantage of what they gave us.”
Both teams combined for one hit in the first two innings and it came from McAllen’s Matthew Henkel in the first inning.
Pitching and defense was on display through the next 1 1/2 innings
Bastrop’s Jaryd Hodgson struck out six batters  and the Bears’ defense played flawless over three innings, including an impressive diving catch by Jake Hernandez in second inning.
The Bears bats came out of hibernation in the bottom of the third inning and poured on four runs thanks to some effective base running.
Colton Tucker hit an RBI-single and stole home plate and Jake Hernandez was plated on an single by Jake Dickey.
McAllen answered in the top of the fourth inning by scoring on a wild pitch and an error, but the Bears added another run in the bottom half of the inning on a single by Bryden Coghlan to score Dillon Becker.
The Bulldogs tied the game in the top of the fifth thanks to a double by Tim Ford that drove in two runs.
McAllen scored another run after Bastrop went to its bullpen and pitcher Joey Muehr.
Bastrop senior Cade Staton took no time breaking up the tie and tattooed a 395-foot home run over the center field wall to give Bastrop the lead for good.
The Bears put a six-run cushion in the bottom of the sixth inning thanks to a pair of triples from Staton and Michael Hancock, each driving in runs.
Muher got the win on the mound, pitching three innings and giving up on earned run.
Hodgson had an impressive outing on the mound, striking out eight batters and giving up three earned runs.
Staton finished the game going 2 for 4 with a home run, two RBIs and a triple. Hancock Tucker and Becker also went 2 for 4.
Bastrop played two games on Friday at the AISD Tournament and was scheduled for a 9:30 a.m. matchup with Eagle Pass at Garrison Field in Austin.