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By Caleb Adams

Orange Leader

ORANGEFIELD – The Orangefield Bobcats toppled the Little Cypress-Mauriceville Bears 10-2 in Orangefield on Tuesday night and find themselves now in first-place in the District 22-4A standings, a half game up now on LC-M and Silsbee.

The Bobcats (11-5-2, 4-1) got a lead early and never looked back, thanks to strong offense and great pitching.

Overall the Bobcats hit great all night, up and down the lineup with nine hits, but the one who stuck out the most had to be centerfielder Kamryn Henderson. He would go three for four at the plate hitting a single, double and a two-run homerun in the first inning and two RBI, just a triple away from the cycle.

Henderson’s speed and baserunning ability was key at the top of the lineup and he put it on display scoring every time he got on base.

Bryce Bergeron got the nod for the Bobcats on the mound and he delivered, going the distance and getting the win. He would go seven innings with three walks, allowing five hits and had seven strikeouts on the night and gave up just two runs. He would be one out shy of the complete game, but did everything and more when the coaches gave him the start.

The Bobcats top of the lineup got things going in the bottom of the first inning. Tyler Washington walked to lead off, bringing up Henderson. Henderson connected on the second pitch of the at bat and launch it over the left field wall for a two-run homerun. Logan Gipson kept the rally going with a hard single next, and got around to third after a stolen base and wild pitch. Ryan Trahan reached on a walk, and Bergeron would hit a hard shot at shortstop, deep enough to score Gipson and to make it to first base.

Trahan would steal third to put runners on the corners. Bergeron would steal second, but when the Bears tried to get him out, they overthrew it, letting Trahan score from third base. The Bobcats went through the whole lineup in one inning, taking an early 4-0 lead after the first inning was done.

The Bobcats extended their lead thanks to some crafty baserunning with two outs. Henderson hit a single to lead off and got moved over to third off a hit and run from Gunner Jones, putting runners on the corners. Jones would take off for second, but when the catcher threw it down Henderson took off for home plate. By the time the ball made it back to home, Henderson was already sliding in for the run. That’s all the Bobcats would find, but they took a 5-0 lead over the Bears heading into the third inning.

The Bears (9-10, 3-1) offense opened up in the top of the third, thanks to an error. Gage Griffith would draw a walk and get moved to second base off a ground ball. Zach Krummel hit a grounder, but the throw would go wide and let Griffith score from second base as the Bears shrank the lead a little to 5-1.

The Bobcats added some cushion to their lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. Henderson struck again with a big double to get things going. Gipson would draw a walk, but on the fourth ball the pitch went wide, letting Henderson advance to third base. Jones hit a deep fly to left field, plenty of time for Henderson to fly home for the score. Ryan Trahan kept things going with a hard double past the infield, scoring Gipson from third base. Bergeron and Kolbie Sowell each drew walks and loaded the bases for Jason Bodin to pile on more with a big double to right field.

Sowell, Bergeron and Trahan would all score on the hit but Bodin would be caught on his way to third base to end the inning as the Bobcats took a big 10-1 lead heading into the seventh inning.

The Bears wouldn’t go down without a fight, putting a run on the board late. Dean Reynolds would single, but the next two batters struck out. Krummel would come up and hit a grounder, but the Bobcats made an error on the play, letting Reynolds advance and Krummel to reach base. Ashton Laundry then laced a single just past the infield to score Reynolds.

These two teams will be trading blows and keeping an eye on each other the rest of the season as they fight for that first place spot in district.

The Bears will visit Silsbee (12-5-1, 3-1) Thursday while the Bobcats will make a trek to Vidor (9-10, 2-2) to face the Pirates.