Magnolia West Drops Critical 19-5A Baseball Matchup To Consol

MAGNOLIA, TX — One swing of the bat put the Magnolia West baseball team’s playoff hopes in jeopardy.

A&M Consolidated junior catcher Chase Sodolak crushed a go-ahead, three-run home run over the left-field fence, sending the Mustangs to a 5-3 loss in District 19-5A play Tuesday at Mustang Field.

The setback bumps Magnolia West (11-14, 5-6) to fifth place in 19-5A, one game back of Consol (11-12, 6-5), which currently holds the final playoff spot with a critical rematch Friday in College Station. With the Mustangs having to play second-place Brenham (22-5, 8-3) in the final week of the regular season, the rematch against the Tigers is critical for Magnolia West’s playoff hopes.

“It’s a one-game season,” Magnolia West head coach Justin Faltysek said. “We have to win.”
The Mustangs took a 2-1 lead Tuesday when Greg Ferguson hit a blooper into shallow center to score Caden Robertson in the bottom of the third inning. It appeared that might be all the Mustangs would need as starting pitcher James Ellwanger allowed just one run through the first four innings and had retired eight of the last nine batters.

Consol tied the game in the fifth with the help of an error. Brodie Daniel hit a ground ball to shortstop, but an off-target throw pulled Magnolia West first baseman JP Ellwanger slightly off the bag on what would have been the third out, allowing Consol’s Trace Meadows to score from third.

James Ellwanger gave up two runs, one earned, on two hits and four walks while striking out five.

“He struggled with his command early,” Faltysek said. “He was frustrated with not locating some of his pitches. He worked behind too many counts.”

Kade Dunlap relieved Ellwanger to start the sixth, and the first two batters got on base with Carson Kerbel reaching on an error and Nathan Hodge drawing a walk. Two batters later, Sodolak turned on the first pitch he saw, sending a no-doubt home run over the left-field fence to give the Tigers a 5-2 lead.

“Good for Chase,” A&M Consolidated head coach Ryan Lennerton said. “He came up in a big spot and got his pitch, and he didn’t miss it.”

The Mustangs nearly answered back with a game-tying blast in the bottom of the frame, but Danny Schroeder’s fly ball was caught at the wall by center fielder Brandon Bishop, scoring Ferguson on a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 5-3.

Consol starting pitcher Jack Hamilton induced a fielder’s choice grounder to end the inning, and Cooper McKenzie pitched around a two-out single in the seventh to earn the save. Hamilton allowed three runs, two earned, while striking out four in six innings to earn the win.

Magnolia West outhit Consol 7-3, but the Mustangs stranded eight runners.

“We’ve got to take advantage of opportunities,” Faltysek said. “I thought we left a lot of opportunities out there today. Hamilton made good pitches in certain spots, and we didn’t get it done. We hit a lot of balls hard, just right to them.

“We need to show some toughness and resolve [Friday] and not to let things they can’t control get in their mind.”