Mustangs prep for Canyon in regional semis

A team that doesn’t allow a moment to become too momentous has a better chance of success.

For the prior two weeks of the Class 5A baseball playoffs, Grapevine has played in two elimination games and reacted better than maybe even head coach Steve Hutcherson expected.

The Mustangs (29-5) cruised into the Region I semifinals with a 9-1 victory over Wichita Falls Rider in the deciding third game of the quarterfinal round this past Saturday in Bowie.

Grapevine now meets Canyon in a best-of-three series that will be played at Wichita Falls’ Hoskins Field. The opener is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday. The second game is scheduled for noon Saturday. A potential deciding game would be played 30 minutes following the completion of the second game.

“They just showed up on Saturday as it if was business as usual,” Hutcherson said. “It was kind of weird one way, but neat in another, because they understood what they had to do.”

Early crooked numbers have told the story against both Granbury and Rider. Grapevine scored five in the second inning against the Pirates and won, 5-3. Against the Raiders, Joe Leal unloaded the bases with a double down the right field line to give Grapevine a 3-0 lead.

Scoring multiple runs early in an all-or-nothing game can be such a psychological hammer. The team winning knows it can go for the finish. The team trailing presses and is forced to try different methods to get back into the game.

While Grapevine Game 3 starter Andrew Cain dealt with baserunners, he was able to get through 2 2/3 innings. Boone Montgomery kept Rider in check. The Mustangs offense put the game away.

“If you get that big number early first, you can sense the panic set in,” Hutcherson said. “Fortunately, we’ve been able to take advantage of some situations where we had multiple baserunners.”

Maybe this series was won in the opener. Grapevine squandered a 4-1 lead in the top of the seventh. With two outs, an error and two walks led to the five-run inning capped by a grand slam. Trailing 6-4, the Mustangs rallied with three in the bottom of the seventh when Kyle Flamm ripped a two-run double with the bases loaded.

The Raiders sent this series to a deciding third game when they won Game 2, 1-0.

“Really, after that [five-run Rider seventh], that could have been easily a shell-shocking event,” Hutcherson said. “But when they came into the dugout, they just talked about getting it done and finding a way to win. That’s the mark of a tough-minded team.”

About Canyon

The Eagles (24-7) are coming off a sweep of Abilene Cooper in the quarterfinal round. They had to win two elimination games in the area round against El Paso Eastlake in the area round just to keep playing.

Their offense has been pretty potent, scoring 57 runs in seven postseason games. With the series compacted into two days instead of three, Hutcherson said he probably won’t do too much to change his pitching plans. Kyle Flamm is expected to start the opener followed by Connor Neuman in the second game.

“Canyon has been good all year,” Hutcherson said. “We’re not going to know everything about them. But we sent someone to watch them [against Cooper]. We just have to play consistently.”

There is the potential for an all-District 6-5A rematch in the regional finals. Lake Dallas meets Lubbock Cooper in the other regional semifinal.

This story was originally published May 24, 2016 at 1:12 PM with the headline "Mustangs prep for Canyon in regional semis."