GC Baseball: Kannon Ritchie no-hits Carlisle to complete a Kerens Bi-District sweep
May 4—BULLARD — A year ago the Ritchie Twins opened the 2A playoffs with back-to-back no-hitters to lift Kerens to a 2-0 start to an impressive run in the playoffs.
Every 2A baseball team in the state hopes Kannon and Krayton Ritchie won't be that formidable this year.
Well, hope again.
The Ritchie Twins are back and better than ever.
Nope, they didn't start the playoffs with back-to-back no-hitters, but just about ...
They combined to give up one hit in a pair of dominating performances against Price Carlisle to sweep the Class 2A Bi-District series at Bullard's Brookhill High School, 5-0 and 3-0.
Sure, they gave up a single in the first playoff game Thursday, but the Ritchies are better — their season stats prove that — this season. Don't be surprised if they lead Kerens to an even deeper run in the playoffs this season.
Kannon Ritchie sealed the first round series and sent Kerens to the Area Round of the playoffs with a no-hitter Friday night, taking away the Carlisle bats in a 3-0 win that saw Kannon strike out 15 and face just 24 batters (three over the minimum) to nail down his complete game gem. The Ritchies combined to strike out 28 in the two games.
Krayton is 8-3 with an 0.74 ERA after allowing just five earned runs all year. Kannon has allowed just two runs and is 11-0 with a 0.24 ERA.
The Ritchies are a combined 19-3 with a combined 222 strikeouts, giving a whole new meaning to the term K. They have not allowed an extra base hit in a 106 innings this season.
Friday's victory was the 16th in a row for the Bobcats and 15 of those were shutouts. Kerens hasn't given up a run since March 19 when Neches, the only district team to find the plate against Bobcats, scored two runs in an 11-2 loss. No one has scored on Kerens or the Ritchie Twins since.
Kerens is now 21-5 after sweeping Carlisle, which played well in both losses, holding the Bobcats to just three runs on seven hits and seven walks Friday.
Kooper Hill went 2-for-2 and scored a run and JJ Hightower scored and drove in two runs for Kerens. Andy Conklin went 1-for-1 with three walks and scored a run and Lane Lynch 1-for-4) and Adrian Solis (1-for-3) had hits for Kerens.
The Bobcats will play the winner of the Linden-Kildare—North Hopkins series in the Area Round of the playoffs.
