UIL baseball, softball roundup: See results from playoff games in Fort Worth-area
The UIL softball and baseball playoffs continued on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Here is a roundup of important games in the Fort Worth-area.
Arlington Heights baseball defeats Saginaw, secures bi-district title
It took an extra day to get the job done, but Arlington Heights baseball came out on top.
Following a weather postponement on Friday, Arlington Heights (27-3) and Saginaw resumed play on Saturday with Arlington Heights having a 2-0 lead in the fifth inning. The Yellow Jackets went on to capture a 5-2 win and a bi-district championship.
Arlington Heights has had a fantastic year out of District 6-5A and went 14-0 in district play. Now, the Yellow Jackets are rolling onto the area round, where they’ll face the team that eliminated them last season: Argyle.
“We’ve been throwing it really well on the mound,” Arlington Heights head coach Travis Rose said. “We’ve been playing solid defense behind our guys, and we’ve been scrapping at the plate and coming up big with runners in scoring position. They are playing good, fundamental ball right now, and we’ll look to continue that.”
The Argyle Eagles went 11-3 in District 6-5A play and lost in the Class 5A State Championship last season. Rose said Argyle is a “good squad” that is “very talented.”
“They know how to win,” Rose said. “We’re just going to continue to play our game and give them everything we’ve got.”
Juan Soto paved the way for Arlington Heights with a quality start, throwing five scoreless innings and allowing three hits. Soto struck out seven and allowed one walk.
“He fills up the zone and he goes out there and competes,” Rose said. “And that’s really all you can ask. He doesn’t shoot himself in the foot. He throws strikes, challenges hitters and trusts his defense.”
Morgan Garrett took over in relief of Soto and allowed two earned runs. He threw one bad pitch and it resulted in a two run home run by Saginaw’s Gavin Leadbetter. Garrett responded and kept the Rough Riders (17-18) at bay the rest of the game.
Mitchell Carpenter led the way offensively for Heights, driving in two runs with a double in the fifth inning. The Yellow Jackets finished with six hits, but capitalized on scoring opportunities they created.
Rose said an important aspect of the Yellow Jackets’ offense is putting pressure on the defense. Arlington Heights will look to continue to do the same in the area round.
“We’ve got a little bit of speed,” Rose said. “If we put the ball in play, we can cause some errors and get some runners on base.”
Aledo softball escapes Birdville in 11 innings
Aledo pushed over a run in the top of the 11th inning and Bearcats pitcher Brenlee Gonzales was able to close the door in a 3-2 win over North Richland Hills Birdville in a Class 5A area-round game on Thursday at Fort Worth Boswell High School.
It was a one-game series between the two which made the pressure for both schools even greater as Aledo (30-3) advances to the regional round. The Bearcats will face Joshua (29-9) next week after the Owls eliminated Granbury, sweeping the series with a 5-1 win on Thursday after a 1-0 victory on Wednesday.
“I’m relieved,” said Gonzales, who’s headed to Texas Tech in the fall. “Last year we didn’t really succeed as much as we wanted to, we lost in the second round, so making it this far has been a privilege. Last year we couldn’t get out of some of those kinds of jams, but we were able to buckle down and my team was able to back me up.”
Birdville (24-10) struck first in the marathon pitchers duel. Evelynn Swartzlander led off the bottom of the first for the Hawks with a soft liner that was just over the head of the shortstop for a single.
After Aledo starting pitcher Taylor McKean fanned the next two hitters, Coryn Burris launched a towering fly ball to left that one-hopped the fence for a triple, driving in Swartzlander to make it 1-0 Birdville.
Aledo answered in the top of the fourth when Delany Rosser and Liliana Flores led off the inning with back-to-back triples. Marina Taveras followed with a sacrifice fly to right to give the Bearcats a 2-1 lead.
“She (Reagan Jordan) pitched a great game,” said Flores. “With a 3-2 count I knew she was going to throw something in the zone. I knew she was going to try to throw something outside the zone and I literally just stuck my bat out there.”
All three pitchers in the game were stellar. Reagan Jordan for Birdville went the distance, pitching all 11 innings for the Hawks allowing three runs, two earned while scattering six hits with five strikeouts, three walks and one hit batter.
McKean pitched the first five innings for Aledo allowing one run on four hits with seven strikeouts and one walk. Gonzales took over in the sixth and pitched the final six innings for the Bearcats giving up a run on four hits with 10 strikeouts and one walk.
Birdville, dramatically, tied the game in the bottom of the seventh. Burris, who went 2-for-5 at the plate, laced a single to right that was misplayed allowing her to reach third.
Jordan followed with a lined single to left to score Burris, but Gonzales was able to get a ground out and two strikeouts to send the game to extra innings.
Rosser, who went 2-for-5, led off the 11th with a shot to short for an infield single and moved to second when the throw to first went in the dugout. Flores moved her to third with a sacrifice bunt and Rosser scored on an error on a grounder to third by Taveras.
Area Scores
SOFTBALL
G1: Keller 1, El Paso Eastwood 0
G2: Keller 4, El Paso Eastwood 2 - Keller wins series
G1: South Grand Prairie 7, Plano West 3 (8)
G2: Plano West 10, South Grand Prairie 5
G3: Plano West 5, South Grand Prairie 0 - Plano West wins series
1G: Hebron 11, Dallas Lake Highlands 4 - Hebron wins series 1-0
G1: Southlake Carroll 3, El Paso Montwood 1
G2: Southlake Carroll 14, El Paso Montwood 5 - Carroll wins series
1G: Flower Mound Marcus 15, Irving 2 (5) - Marcus wins series 1-0
G1: Royse City 5, Mansfield Legacy 2 (12)
G2: Mansfield Legacy 9, Royse City 6
G3: Mansfield Legacy 8, Royse City 1 - Legacy wins series
G1: Rockwall 1, Mansfield Lake Ridge 0
G2: Rockwall 5, Mansfield Lake Ridge 4 - Rockwall wins series 2-0
G1: Burleson Centennial 10, Azle 0 (6)
G2: Azle 1, Burleson Centennial 0
G3: Burleson Centennial 9, Azle 2 - Centennial wins series
G1: Colleyville Heritage 7, FW Brewer 0
G2: Colleyville Heritage 5, FW Brewer 5 - Heritage wins series
G1: Joshua 1, Granbury 0
G2: Joshua 5, Granbury 1 - Joshua wins series 2-0
G1: Snyder 13, Decatur 2
G2: Decatur 6, Snyder 5
G3: Snyder 6, Decatur 2 - Snyder wins series
G1: Aubrey 10, Venus 0 (6)
G2: Aubrey 13, Venus 0 (5) - Aubrey wins series 2-0
BASEBALL
G1: Keller 2, Weatherford 1
G2: Keller 4, Weatherford 3 - Keller wins series
G1: Paschal 3, Keller Timber Creek 2
G2: Keller Timber Creek 8, Paschal 2
G3: Paschal 2, Keller Timber Creek 1 - Paschal wins series
G1: Boswell 2, Byron Nelson 1
G2: Byron Nelson 4, Boswell 3
G3: Boswell 2, Byron Nelson 0 - Boswell wins series
G1: Arlington Martin 6, Lake Highlands 2
G2: Arlingon Martin 12, Lake Highlands 2 - Martin wins series
G1: Richardson Pearce 4, Arlington Lamar 3
G2: Richardson Pearce 6, Arlington Lamar 2 - Pearce wins series
G1: Southlake Carroll 1, Hurst L.D. Bell 0
G2: Southlake Carroll 4, Hurst L.D. Bell 2 - Carroll wins series
G1: Dallas Jesuit 7, Arlington 4
G2: Dallas Jesuit 10, Arlington 6 - Jesuit wins series
G1: Mansfield 3, Temple 0
G2: Mansfield 7, Temple 1 - Mansfield wins series
G1: Harker Heights 6, Mansfield Legacy 4
G2: Mansfield Legacy 9, Harker Heights 3
G3: Mansfield Legacy 3, Harker Heights 2 - Legacy wins series
G1: Wichita Falls Rider 8, Trimble Tech 1
G2: Wichita Falls Rider 11, Trimble Tech 0 - Rider wins series
G1: Grapevine 6, Mansfield Timberview 5
G2: Grapevine 2, Mansfield Timberview 1 - Grapevine wins series
G1: Justin Northwest 8, Fort Worth Wyatt 0
G2: Justin Northwest 6, Fort Worth Wyatt 1 - Northwest wins series
G1: Arlington Heights 5, Saginaw 0
G2: Arlington Heights 5, Saginaw 2 - Arlington Heights wins series
G1: Argyle 5, Cleburne 1
G2: Argyle 2, Cleburn 1 - Argyle wins series
G1: Aledo 17, South Hills 0
G2: Aledo 14, South Hills 3 - Aledo wins series
G1: Midlothian 3, Colleyville Heritage 2
G2: Colleyville Heritage 4, Midlothian 2
G3: Colleyville Heritage 4, Midlothian 3 - Heritage wins series
G1: Decatur 4, Wichita Falls 3
G2: Decatur 4, Wichita Falls 3 - Decatur wins series
G1: Glen Rose 8, Snyder 1
G2: Snyder 3, Glen Rose 2
G3: Glen Rose 4, Snyder 3 - Glen Rose wins series
G1: Kennedale 19, FW Dunbar 1
G2: Kennedale 19, Dunbar 0 - Kennedale wins series
G1: Waxahachie Life 15, FW Carter-Riverside 0
G2: Waxahachie Life 16, FW Carter-Riverside 0 - Life wins series
G1: Benbrook 7, Alvarado 4
G2: Benbrook 3, Alvarado 0 - Benbrook wins series
This story was originally published May 3, 2024 at 12:39 AM.
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