Brock falls to Bushland in 2A baseball semifinal

By Jarret Johnson

jmjohnson@star-telegram.com

ROUND ROCK -- Bushland edged Brock by a single run in the Class 2A state semifinals for the second time in three seasons on Wednesday.

The Falcons (31-7) scored in the eighth to defeat the Eagles 1-0 at Dell Diamond and advance to the Class 2A state championship.

Bushland will play Jarrell (26-4), a 3-2 winner over Elkhart in 13 innings Wednesday night. The championship is scheduled for noon today at Dell Diamond.

Bushland's Gerald Reyna (12-0) struck out five, walked two and allowed only a pair of hits in pitching eight innings.

"I felt good, the mound was the right size and the day was beautiful," Reyna said. "My arm was kind of hurting at the beginning of the game, but I toughed it out and felt like I was progressing toward the end."

Brock (33-2) countered with Shay Phillips (14-1). The junior struck out 10 with no walks and scattered seven hits (all singles) in working into the eighth.

The one run in the eighth was unearned.

"It was a classic between two great teams and two great pitchers," Bushland coach Jeff Smith said. "The guy from Brock did a great job, but we just happened to be the team to take advantage of a misplayed ball. I don't think either team deserved to lose but we'll take it."

Falcons outfielder Colter Cornelius advanced to third in the eighth on a fly ball that bounced off a Brock outfielder's glove before rolling to the wall. Bushland's Collin Smith singled to center on the next at-bat to drive in Cornelius.

"I was just trying to put it in play and get something going," Smith said. "It was a heck of a pitcher's duel. We just had to put it in play and hope for something to happen."

Bushland is making its third consecutive state tournament appearance and advanced to its second title game in three years.

"We have to get our bats working a little better then we did today," Reyna said. "If our pitching game is as good as it was today then I think we'll get it done."

After finishing the regular season 27-0, the Eagles advanced to the state tournament with aspirations of winning their first state championship since 2006.

"We had a great year," Brock coach Chad Massey said. "We have just competed all year long, and at the first of the year people didn't expect this much out of them, so I'm proud of them. You need a couple of breaks to win down here, and we didn't get that break."

Jarret Johnson, 817-390-7760

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