MORRIS, BOND, GONZALEZ, MCDANIEL PROVIDE BIG MOMENTS AS NO. 5 BLINN BASEBALL KEEPS SEASON ALIVE IN SOUTH REGIONAL

The Buccaneers will face Wharton County for the regional championship at 2 p.m. on Sunday in Brenham, Texas

Two intense victories kept the Blinn College baseball team’s season alive for another day.

The fifth-ranked Buccaneers defeated Paris Junior College 2-1 and Wharton County Junior College 7-5 in a pair of win-or-go-home matchups at the Region XIV South Regional Tournament on Saturday at Leroy Dreyer Field in Brenham, Texas.

Up next, Blinn (43-13) will take on Wharton County in a winner-take-all championship game at 2 p.m. Sunday in Brenham. The Bucs are in the regional title game for a third consecutive year and are looking to advance to the Region XIV Super Regional for the third time in as many seasons.

“Survive and advance is the name of the game this time of the year,” Bucs head coach Dusty Hart said. “We fought our tail ends off all day, and I’m very proud of the effort we put forth. Hats off to Paris and Wharton; they both played a heck of a game.”

In the opener, Blinn and Paris faced off in a rematch from the tournament’s opening round. The Bucs avenged a 4-3 loss to the Dragons behind a herculean effort from freshman starting pitcher Hayden Morris.

The hard-throwing right-hander worked 8 1/3 dazzling innings of one-run ball in which he scattered seven hits, struck out seven, and walked one. 

He improved to 8-0.

“I just went to the mound looking to throw strikes and give my team the best chance to win,” Morris said. “I had to make some adjustments at the end there, but the game plan from the beginning was to throw the ball right down the middle and see if they could hit it, and that’s what I did.”

Morris exited with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning after allowing a single and double to put the tying and winning runs in scoring position.

Sophomore relief pitcher Hunter Bond then entered in a big spot and wasted no time shutting the Dragons down.

He struck out the first hitter he faced on four pitches before getting the next hitter to fly out to left field to end it.

The save was his fifth of the season.

The Bucs’ lineup totaled seven hits and produced all of its offense in the second and third innings.

Freshman Drew Britton got his team on the board with an RBI groundout in the top of the second, and freshman Trey Craig reached on a run-scoring error in the third for a 2-0 cushion.

An error accounted for Paris’ only run in the sixth.

Sophomores Bennett Fryman and Ryder McDaniel paced Blinn with two hits apiece.

Game two proved to be just as edge-of-your-seat as the opener, with the Bucs needing a late-game rallying to fend off elimination. 

Wharton County entered the matchup with a 2-0 record in the tournament, and a victory over the Bucs would have sent the Pioneers on to the super regional. 

Instead, Blinn erased a 5-2 deficit with five runs across the final four frames to earn the win.

Wharton County opened the scoring with a two-run home run in the bottom of the first, but freshman starting pitcher settled in for the Bucs as he worked 4 1/3 solid innings of three-run ball. He gave up four hits and three walks while punching out eight.

Sophomore Ethan Gonzalez’s RBI single in the fourth and a solo home run from sophomore Caden Ferraro in the fifth pulled the Bucs even.

The Pioneers regained the advantage with three runs in the home half of the fifth for a 5-2 edge.

In the sixth, Gonzalez blasted a two-run homer to left to bring his team within one.

Blinn then grabbed the lead for good when McDaniel reached on an error that scored Gonzalez and Ferraro laced a double to center field for a 6-5 advantage.

McDaniel added an insurance run in the ninth when he tripled to right, driving in Gonzalez.

Blinn finished with 10 hits, led by Gonzalez’s three-hit, three-RBI performance.

Ferraro, McDaniel, and Fryman each added two hits. Ferraro drew three walks. 

Pitcher Jack Garza was awarded the victory after the freshman tossed two scoreless frames for the Bucs. He allowed one hit and fanned two while improving to 3-1 on the year.

After throwing just six pitches in game one, Bond returned to the mound in the eighth inning to attempt his second save of the day. He dazzled once more, allowing one hit and striking out three while picking up his sixth save.

Bond allowed a leadoff double to open the ninth, but induced two popouts around a strikeout to escape trouble.

Bond is pitching in his second postseason after serving as an important cog in the Bucs’ bullpen during a run to the JUCO World Series in 2023. He missed Blinn’s 2024 championship run with a career-threatening injury, but has returned to impressive form this spring.

“The game never really changes; I’m still going to get on the mound and throw strikes,” Bond said. “I think the biggest thing that helped me today was experience; that’s something you can’t teach. I think pitching in big playoff situations in 2023 built me up for big moments like today. The game doesn’t speed up on me; I’m just playing baseball the way it should be played.”

Should the Bucs prevail Sunday, they will host Region XIV South rival San Jacinto College-North for the best-of-three super regional beginning Wednesday, May 14, at Leroy Dreyer Field. 

Story Courtesy of:

Joe Alberico   
Blinn Sports Information Specialist