Bray Wilson went to the field Monday with the idea that he would be Boyd-Buchanan’s designated hitter.
After an elbow twinge sidelined scheduled starting pitcher Casey Pate, though, Wilson went from DH and dugout to the mound and got the 13-1 District 5-A baseball tournament semifinal victory over visiting Arts & Sciences.
Wilson pitched four innings, giving up a run in the second on a single to left field by Tommy Yamashita as he stretched out his arm but allowing no hits in his next two innings of work. With an idea of preserving postseason arms, Buccaneers coach Taylor Gilley lifted him in the fifth in favor of Will Emory.
“Bray did a good job coming in and throwing strikes, sort of saved the day,” Gilley said. “I thought we did a good job swinging the bat – working the count, finding our pitch. It was nice to be done in five – save our pitchers – but in order to do that we had to have a good offensive showing.”
Boyd-Buchanan advances to the winners-bracket final at Silverdale Baptist, a 7-2 winner over Grace Academy. That game will be at 5 this afternoon. Grace will travel to Arts & Sciences for a losers-bracket semifinal game, also at 5.