WITT’S GEM LEADS BURTON BASEBALL TO THE REGION XIV CHAMPIONSHIP
They did it! The Burton Panther Baseball Team captured the Class 2A Division II Region IV Championship last (Wednesday) night in Elgin with a 1-0 victory over the Shiner Comanches.
Tyler Witt pitched an incredible game going seven innings, allowing just three hits, one walk, and striking out eight to get the win. One of those strikeouts was the 300th of his career at Burton.
He and Shiner's Charlie Clifford nearly matched each other frame for frame. The big difference came in the third inning.
Burton's Coy Gurka reached on a one-out walk. Clifford tossed a wild pitch, and because of the larger-than-normal area of foul territory behind home plate, plus the catcher lost track of the ball, Gurka was able to get all the way to third base. The next batter, Witt, drove him home with a sacrifice fly to left field that turned out to be the game's only run.
Fast forward to the bottom of the seventh inning. Witt was in gut-check time. He plunked the first batter Londyn Pohler, which gave Shiner some hope.
Witt bounced back to strikeout Clifford, and get Cauy Herman to fly out to Gurka in right field. With two outs, it came down to the Comanche DH Luke Dierlam.
Witt got Dierlam to hit a ground ball back up the middle to 2B Logun Tosta, who then flipped it to SS Ryder Biggs covering at second for the final out, and the celebration.
Up next, the Panthers will play the winner of the series between Beckville and Overton in the State Semifinals. Beckville won the opener last night 13-0. Game two of that series is tomorrow (Friday) night at 7pm at Tatum High School.