Carroll shuts down Sharyland

MISSION — The Corpus Christi Carroll Tigers shut down the No. 1 ranked Sharyland Rattlers 8-1 during the finals of the Performance Enhancement Nutrition Tournament Saturday at Rattler Baseball Field.

After a slow start in the first two innings, the Tigers lineup came alive in the top of the fourth inning to take a 3-1 lead and never looked back as it notched three runs at the top of the fifth inning and one run in the sixth and seventh innings.

"We caught them on a good day for us," Corpus Christi Carroll coach Lee Yeager said. "Once we got that first hit in the third inning we started to settle into our rotations and Mark [Blackmar] found his secondary pitches."

Senior Tigers pitcher Mark Blackmar finished the game with six strike outs on 93 pitches including one impressive series of throws in the fifth inning where he closed down the Rattler lineup in just 10 pitches. Blackmar would also supply a tempo-changing 2RBI triple in the fifth inning to solidify the Tigers lead.

"It feels real good to win, especially when its a championship game," Blackmar said. "We did start a little slow but once I was able to relax a little and not rely on my fastball so much the game really came together."

Sharyland finished the night with just three hits compared to Carroll’s 11 and were hampered all night by an injured bullpen which forced Sharyland coach Bart Bickerton to start the fifth pitcher on the roster.

Three of the Tigers’ first runs were put on base by way of hit-by-pitch.

"Its never good to come into a game so injured but that is by no means an excuse," Bickerton said. "Fact is we just didnt play tonight. We gave up two runs in one inning by hit batters when we had two outs. You can’t games like that."