Baseball recap: Carroll, Aledo walk off in Game 1; Keller rallies by Coppell; Brock, Grandview win big

Southlake Carroll 5, FM Marcus 4

Down to the final out, Gunnar Krug hit a 2-1 pitch back up the middle and into center for the walk-off two-run single as the Dragons downed the Marauders in Game 1 of their Class 6A Region 1 semifinal Thursday at Carroll High School.

Brady Miller easily scored from third to tie the game and Nolan Harsy scored from second beating out the tag by the slimmest of margins to send the Dragon dugout into pandemonium.

Game 2 is scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday at Marcus.

Ben Tryon was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the seventh and pinch runner Miller advanced to second two batters later on a Clark Springs single to shallow left. Harsy came in to run for Springs and after a pop-fly put two outs on the board, both runners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch.

Marcus (29-9-1) trailed for 6 1/3 innings before scoring two runs with one out in the top of the seventh. Van Klein hit a one-out single and Peyton Curtis hit a ball that was just out of the reach of the diving Carroll center fielder that turned into the game-tying RBI triple.

Curtis then scored a batter later on a sac fly to right from Tyler Schott.

Carroll (27-16) jumped on the board with a Max Reyes two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning. Jeff Martz and Klein strung together back-to-back RBIs in the fourth for the Marauders.

Both starting pitchers, Tate Evans (Marcus) and Griffin Herring (Carroll) allowed seven hits and struck out nine.

Keller 5, Coppell 2

Keller rallied for five runs in the bottom of the sixth on two home runs as the Indians stunned Coppell in the first game of a Class 6A Region 1 semifinal Thursday night at Denton Guyer High School.

Gray Rowlett drew a one-out walk for Keller (31-5) in the sixth in front of Aidan Conners who launched a shot to right to tie the game at 2-2.

A single by Michael Dattalo was followed by an error on a ground ball by Clayton Thomas. Braden Davis cleared the bases with a three-run shot to give Keller a 5-2 lead.

Eric Hammond pitched well for the Indians allowing two runs, one earned, on four hits with three walks and six strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings.

Zach Gonzalez came on to get the final out for Keller after Coppell (30-8-1) had two runners reach with two outs.

Ryan Walker hit a solo home run for the Cowboys to open the third inning.

The two teams will return to Guyer for Game 2 on Friday at 1 p.m.

Aledo 6, Abilene Wylie 5 (9)

Zach Harrison dumped a two-out double down the right field line and Parker Stegall raced home all the way from first base to give Aledo a 6-5, walk-off, nine-inning win over Abilene Wylie in Game 1 of their Class 5A Region 1 semifinal Thursday evening at The Depot in Cleburne.

Game 2 of the series is scheduled for noon on Friday at Abilene Christian University.

Aledo (27-9-2) scored five runs in the first three innings. Harrison smashed a double off the left field wall to drive in two in the first.

TCU signee Creed Willems hit a towering two-run home run to left center in the third to put Aledo up 5-0.

Wylie (25-9) scored five unearned runs in the fourth off Bearcat starter Hunter Rudel, but that was it. Rudel went six innings and allowed eight hits, fanned six, walked one and hit a batter.

Ethan Jaques got the win for Aledo pitching the final three innings.

Jaques and the Bearcats got a huge break in the top of the seventh when a double by Wylie’s Landon Williams, with Riley Hood on first, bounced over the fence. Hood was forced to stop at third and Jaques struck out Landon Bailey to end the inning.

Texarkana Liberty-Eylau 12, Godley 3

Texarkana Liberty-Eylau broke open a close game scoring eight times in the bottom of the fifth to down Godley in a Class 4A Region 2 semifinal Thursday night at Whitehouse High School.

Game 2 is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Friday at Carter Field in Tyler.

Godley (27-11) tied the game at 3 with three runs in the top of the third on an RBI double by Caden Burke and a two-run error on a ball hit to third by Landry McKittrick.

But Liberty-Eylau (28-9-2) countered with a run in the bottom of the third and then exploded in the fateful fifth.

Burke doubled twice and McKittrick tripled for the Wildcats’ only hits.

Brock 11, Littlefield 1 (6)

Brock scored six times in the bottom of the sixth to run-rule Littlefield in Game 1 of its Class 3A Region 1 semifinal at Abilene Christian University.

The second game of the series is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Friday back at ACU.

Peyton Shaffer doubled and tripled in three at bats scoring three times and driving in a run for Brock (26-9-1).

Littlefield (19-10) managed to pick up only two hits and a lone run off Eagles’ starter Carson Lightfoot who struck out 11 and walked one.

Cash Jones helped with a 2 for 3 night with two runs scored and an RBI and Sawyer Strosnider had two hits, an RBI and a run scored for Brock.

Grandview 8, Atlanta 1

Grandview evened its series at one game a piece by downing Atlanta in a Class 3A Region 2 semifinal Thursday afternoon at Whitehouse High School.

The Rabbits won Game 1, 4-2, on Wednesday night.

The series will be decided at 4:30 p.m. on Friday at Carter Field in Tyler.

Grandview (31-7-1) scored three times in the second and four times in the fourth to pull away from Atlanta (23-11).

Zach Gilliland lined a three-run homer to left to give the Zebras a 6-1 lead in the fourth. Gilliland scored twice while Jimmy Mathis, Donnie Dycus and Blaine Vaughan each had two hits for Grandview.

Vaughan was stellar on the mound going the distance for the Zebras allowing an unearned run in the first while scattering five hits, striking out two and walking none.

This story was originally published May 27, 2021 at 11:53 PM.