I said after last week’s games that the crosstown baseball matchup was going to be a good one, and I was right. Both teams hit well, but at the same time both got strong performances on the mound.

There would have been many more at-bats going for hits, too, but the outfields were both outstanding. Abilene High’s Michael Sullivan was all over the place in right, and Cooper center fielder Lane Wise and left fielder Andrew Squyres were equally impressive.

While Cooper came out on top, this might be one of those that in 10 games, each might win five. And this meeting might have turned out a little differently, though, if not for an error-turned-out in the bottom of the third.

After Cooper jumped to a 1-0 lead in the middle of the third, Abilene High had a great chance at tying it up in the bottom of the frame. After Bryson Walker led off the inning with a strikeout, Jet Ellis hit a nice shot to left field for a standup double. Jace Leedy, then, connected to send one back to left.

Squyres made the catch, but as he was transferring the ball from his glove for the throw, the ball dropped to the grass. The umpires had a short conference and, when it was over, the call was that the ball was dropped, leaving Leedy safe on first. Cooper coach Terry Couch immediately took the field and questioned the home plate umpire. The two had a brief meeting (he told Couch he didn’t see the play), and Couch then called over the second ump. After their conversation, the two officials conferred again.

They came out of the meeting and changed the call, giving Squyres the catch and sending Leedy back to the dugout.

This, of course, brought AHS coach Scottie Sanchez onto the field, but the only thing he could really argue was over the way the officials handled the call.

The result was that instead of having two on with one out, the Eagles had a pair of outs and only one runner – a runner left stranded when Justin Carroll hit into a 6-3 groundout in the next at-bat.

I’d have to see a replay to know for sure, but it sure looked to me like the umps got it right the second time around. It’s too bad it had to take the back-and-forth discussions, really, but the good thing was they got it right.

Abilene High fans shouldn’t get down, though, after this one. Like I said, the teams were really pretty evenly matched. The Eagles, actually, might have won if not for a couple of mistakes on the base path. Coach Sanchez believes a lot of the mistakes his team made today were simply a result of youthful over-exuberance, and I’d have to say he’s probably right. Look for those players to learn from this one and be smarter the next time out.

I mentioned a few to look for in my previous post, and I want to do it again with Cooper pitcher Nathan Jekel. He transferred this season to the school and is making an impact quickly. He has good ball control and can work the plate well. He went all eight in the complete-game win, throwing just more than 100 pitches - roughly 60 percent for strikes.

And I know he was on the mound when Cooper won it in the eighth, but Abilene High's Michael Stillwell was pretty impressive in relief. He struck out four of the first six batters he faced and was killing Cooper with his off-speed pitch late in the count.