The Mineola Yellowjackets leveraged timely hitting, error-free defense and another stellar pitching performance by Spencer Joyner to record a decisive 9-3 win over the Redwater Dragons, securing a bidistrict title. Fans traveling to Marshall High School for the one-game playoff were rewarded with one of the best all-around efforts of the Yellowjackets all year.

Mineola took a 2-0 lead in the second inning. The rally was typical Jackets baseball. 

Trevor Singletary led off driving a pitch up the middle for a single. He didn’t linger. Joyner stepped in and laced a double into left field. Singletary never slowed and raced across with the opening run. 

Jacob Castleberry drove a deep fly ball into center. Joyner scored from third after tagging up on the catch. 

The Jackets took the 2-0 lead into the sixth. Both starting hurlers had settled in. Mineola was set down in order in the third, fourth and fifth innings. Kaden Bell absolutely scorched a line drive down the third base line in the third, but the Redwater infielder made a nice reaction catch for the out.

Redwater put men on in each of the first four innings, forcing Joyner to work out of jams. Keen defense helped. 

In the second, shortstop Cason Davis made a nice play calling Joyner off a towering pop-up which was caught on the mound. 

In the third Davis speared a line drive and gunned a throw to first to double the baserunner, closing the inning.  

Joyner came hard off the mound in the fourth to field a well-placed bunt. He turned and fired the ball to second to get the lead runner.     

The shadows had just covered the field as Dalton Hamlin led off in the sixth. He put a tough chance on the ground which handcuffed the Dragon third baseman, and safely reached first. 

Hamlin would come around to score from third with an alert steal of home after a passed ball. The play surprised no Mineola fans, as aggressive base running is part of their game. The ball lay only about ten feet from the plate. Hamlin got a great jump as soon as the catcher turned his back. He scored with a head-first slide, reaching the plate with an outstretched hand just under the attempted tag.

The Redwater starter began to tire, putting two men on with free passes. Singletary then pushed a run across with a sacrifice fly. Base hits ensued from Joyner (his second double of the day), Castleberry, Brady Shrum, and Hamlin.  Coy Anderson recorded an RBI-bunt. Hamlin was thrown out at the plate trying to score from second on the play, closing the rally.

Mineola chalked up five of their seven base hits in the sixth inning. They had taken a 9-0 lead going into the bottom of the sixth.

Joyner dispatched the Dragons in the bottom half with two ground-ball outs and a strike out.

The Jackets put one man on in the seventh, but did not threaten.

Mineola was three outs away from a bi-district title. The Dragons were not going quietly. They lined four well-hit base hits and pushed three runs across. With two away, Kaden Bell was brought in to leverage a fresh arm and get the final out. 

The win came with the defensive play of the game. Redwater’s starter came to the plate with one runner on and the Dragons in a full-blown late rally. He crushed a ball to deep left field. It was trailing away from left fielder Braydon Alley, who got a great jump on the ball. No one watching thought he could get to the ball to make the play. At full tilt, reaching across his body, Alley snapped the ball off the top of his shoe as he closed the deep left field line. It was a spectacular catch. 

It was a memorable win for Coach Bowker and his charges, and another trophy for the Yellowjackets.

Next up is White Oak for the area title on Friday at 7 p.m. at Mt. Pleasant.