Broncos desire better offensive plan

By Sandy Anderberg

The Clarendon Bronco baseball team is playing hard and making great advancements in their play, but coach Brad Elam feels they could do more.

“We need to have a better game plan coming up to the plate,” he said. The Broncos were not able to turn hits into runs in their 0-9 loss to River Road last Tuesday.

Nick Shadle was able to make good on his two at bats with big hits, but the Broncos could never bring anybody back to home plate. Defensively, the Broncos struggled despite the players pitching well.

“I thought Kade Hunsaker and Caleb Cobb pitched well,” Elam said. “We make a few plays behind them and it’s a 1-0 game. In the field we didn’t make enough plays and we struggled with our hitting.”

Elam thought River Road’s pitchers did a good job in the game.

“Give their pitchers credit, they are very good,” he said. “But we need to have a better game plan coming up to the plate.”

The Broncos were able to regroup after the loss and finish in second place in the Childress Tournament over the weekend. They went 3-1 over the weekend as they romped over Wellington 12-7 and defeated a good Borger team 4-2. They also earned a huge win over Quanah at 16-4, before losing to Borger 0-13.

“I was very pleased with our tournament performance,” Elam said. “We got to look at a lot of players and got to stretch our pitching out. The Borger victory was a big win. We fought them the whole game and were able to hold them off.”

Elam noted that Kade Hunsaker pitched his best game of the year for the win and Nathan Shadle saved the game finishing the last two innings. The Broncos were also better at the plate.

“Our hitting came alive as a team and we hit well,” he said. “We ran out of steam in the last game, but overall a very good tournament.”

Caleb Cobb, Hunsaker, and Bryce Hatley were named to the All-Tournament Team.

The Broncos will participate in the Fritch Tournament Friday and Saturday, March 10-11. They will travel to San Jacinto on Thursday, March 17.