Keller tops Weatherford in bidistrict doubleheader

WEATHERFORD — The Weatherford Kangaroos battled into the wee morning hours Sunday to keep their season alive, coming up a run short in their bi-district contest to the Keller Indians.

Keller drew first blood, adding a run in the top of the first, but Colton McClure recorded his third strikeout of the inning to keep the Indians at bay.

Three-up, three-down followed for both teams, before the Kangaroos capitalized in the bottom of the third.

With two on, Jesse Cienega hit a hard grounder to right field, scoring Bryce Smith and Landon Boon to give the Roos’ their first lead of the series.

Keller tied it at 2-2 in the top of the seventh, forcing extra innings around the midnight hour. The Indians would another run in the eighth to take the lead back.

Weatherford returned the favor, rallying with two outs to score Cienega on Roy Moon’s single. The Roos went for it all as Cameron Davis tried to beat the throw to home, but the Indians recorded the final out of the inning.

Keller opened the ninth with a double to put what would be the winning run in scoring position, and took the 4-3 lead two batters later.

Smith earned an opening walk for the Roos in the bottom of the ninth, advancing to second on Boone’s sacrifice bunt with one out. Keller pitching was able to record back-to-back strikeouts to end the game.

In a series racked by weather delays, the two teams initially met Thursday night in Southlake Carroll. Keller got on the board first in Game 1, scoring a run in the bottom of the first, but the Roos tied it up in the third.

McClure started the inning with a line drive to centerfield, and scored moments later on Gonzales’ ground ball to left.

The teams remained gridlocked until the bottom of the sixth, when Keller forced a walk with the bases loaded to take a 2-1 advantage.

Moments later, thunderstorms hit, forcing both teams to postpone the remaining innings until Saturday night.

The Indians finished off Game 1 with the 2-1 win, and both teams prepared for what would be an extra-inning slugfest.

The Roos finish the season with an overall record of 26-8-1.