Central Bobcats Slide Past District Front-Runner Ellison as Limon Sets Career High

SAN ANGELO, TX-- The Central Bobcats used top notch baserunning and stellar pitching to take down the second-place Killeen Ellison Eagles 6-1 on Tuesday.

"Our worst enemy and our toughest opponent has been the six inches between our ears every game it seems like," Central Head Coach Patrick Penry. "We're going to build on everything. Anything positive we have, we're going to keep building on it."

The Bobcats trailed 1-0 after two innings.

A trio of singles from Cole Nelson, Rance Rosas and Nixon Brannan plated two runs for the Bobcats in the bottom of the third inning to give them a 2-1 lead.

The Bobcats would pour on four runs in the fifth inning by sending nine batters to the plate to secure their 6-1 margin.

Blake Mikeska lead the team with two RBIs and went 2-for-4 at the plate. Nixon Brannan went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Cole Nelson finished 2-for-4 with a run scored.

"Our hitters were patient," Penry said. "We were looking for pitches, getting our pitch and putting good swings. We talked about it the other day. One of my old coaches, I asked him when I played for him,"How do you build mental toughness?"

"He said in batting practice you don't give them one more. We don't do that either. What we did this week in the batting cage, if they were popping stuff up in the tunnel we'd say "Hey! Next hitter, let's go." You've got to get better every single day. You've got to have that razor sharp focus, which our guys did. Our weekly word was finis, and that's what we did. We've got to keep finishing because we have the talent. These guys have come out every day and gotten better and they're starting to believe."

Jonathan Limon got the start for Central on the mound.

The senior was stellar in six-and-two-thirds innings of work. The lefty would set a new career high in strikeouts with 14 Eagles getting rung up while allowing just one run on two hits and two free baserunners.

"That's the kind of competitor [Jonathan] is," Penry commended his ace. "He attacked the zone. He got ahead of hitters."

The Bobcats improve to 8-14 and 2-1 in District 8-6A while Ellison falls to 10-6 and 2-1.