The No. 21 Livingston Lions battled the No. 18 Hargrave Falcons, taking both ends of a two-game series that decided first place in district.
Tuesday night in Huffman, Livingston came away with a 4-0 win over the Falcons. Landon Hodges was fantastic on the mound for the Lions, pitching seven innings and allowing no runs and two hits, a walk, and struck out six. Karter Nelson led the offense for the Lions,
Thursday night in Livingston, the Lions finished the sweep with a 3-1 win to take sole possession of first place.
Hargrave took an early 1-0 lead on an RBI-double in the top of the first inning, but the Lions fired back in the bottom half of the inning.
Rudy Marquez led off with a ground-rule double to left field, followed by a Braxton Smith single. Nelson hit a double into the left-center gap, scoring both Marquez and Smith to take a 2-1 after the first.
In the bottom of the second inning, Jake Young hit a double to left. Courtesy runner Kane Roane stole third base, then scored on a single by Marquez, putting the Lions up two runs. That was all the offense the Lions needed, and the final run of the game.
Livingston’s Nelson, was dealing against the Falcons, allowing two base runners after the first inning. Nelson pitched seven innings allowing a run on three hits, a walk, and eight strikeouts.
Offensively, Marquez went 3-for-3 with a double, an RBI, and a run. Smith went 2-for-2 with a walk and a run. Nelson was 1-for-3 with a double and two RBIs. Young collected a double and Brayden Goins hit a triple.
With the sweep of Hargrave, the Lions hold a two-game lead and tiebreaker over the Falcons with an 8-0 record and a 20-5 mark for the season. Next week, the Lions take on Hardin-Jefferson Tuesday at home and Friday night in Sour Lake.
