MUSTANG MANIA: OVERTON TO STATE! |
Overton beats Burton, punches state title ticket for next week’s game; will meet Collinsville at Dell Diamond
HUNTSVILLE – Hey, Overton: What’re you doing next Thursday?
Because your high school baseball team IS PLAYING FOR THE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP!!!
Overton High School’s baseball Mustangs had a roller coaster of a ride the last 24 hours here at Don Sanders Stadium on the Sam Houston State University campus in Huntsville.
The Mustangs didn’t look invincible, per se, but they did win game one on Wednesday, 8-5. That forced Burton, to have any chance at all in the UIL 2A, Division II state semifinals, to beat Overton in game two.
They did.
Overton was just overmatched in a 6-0 loss on Thursday afternoon.
So, backs against the wall, trying to overcome the feeling of not just defeat but a shutout, coach Chris Cook’s team did what they almost ALWAYS do, what they HAD to do.
They won.
Overton won game three of the series, 4-1, and will play for the 2A-DII state championship at Dell Diamond in Round Rock next Thursday morning against Collinsville.
In the third-and-deciding game three, Overton got a run from Bryce Still, and led 1-0 for almost the entire game, Burton hot on their heels.
Then, in the bottom of the sixth, they called on that magic. And here’s what happened.
Brody Brown led off the bottom of the sixth with a single to left. After an out, Braxton Harper smacked a single, and Landon Hill, with runners at second and first, moved up the runners with a sacrifice bunt.
Two outs, with runners in scoring position, only up by a single, solitary run, and Still came through again – an inside-the-park home run that gave Overton a 4-0 lead!
It was Still’s second in less than a week, and the Mustangs’ third inside-the park homer in the last four games. It gave Overton the insurance it needed.
Hill, who pitched a tremendous game, almost went the distance. Harper came onto the mound late, in the top of the seventh inning. Burton had scored one run (4-1), and had no outs with runners at first and second. Harper struck out Ryder Biggs, one of the Panthers’ best players, and then the Mustangs’ defense got an out along the base path when Reuben Rodriguez hit into a fielder’s choice.
Out three: Braydon Martin, flying out to Jayden Edwards in left field. Edwards made the catch of the fly ball, and the celebration was on.
The Mustangs are 31-8, and as best as we here at ETBlitz have been able to find, this is the first time they will have played in a baseball state championship game.
Now, the Mustangs will have to knock off the team that wears the crown.
Collinsville won both games Thursday night against Stamford, a sweep. So to win the state title, Overton will have to go through the defending state champs.
Overton and Collinsville will meet in the title game next Thursday, June 5, at 9 a.m. at Dell Diamond. That’s the very first of the state championship games.
We’ll have a story on ticket information, parking, streaming video for those who can’t go, all kinds of numbers on both Overton and Collinsville, and maybe even what they sell to eat at the concession stand by the time we’re through.
A little more elaborate report on Thursday’s games:
Overton 4, Burton 1 (game three): The Panthers’ line-up went 1-2-3 to start the game, with Landon Hill on the mound for Overton.
Mason Rowe got a one-out single for the Mustangs. Rylan Holleman got another single two batters later, and Overton was in business with Braxton Harper at the plate.
Harper struck out, but it was a dropped third strike; the catcher opted to throw to third (!) instead of trying to get Harper at first. The third baseman dropped the ball, and with Harper reaching, Rowe at third and Jacob Osburn at second, the bases were loaded.
Burton got out of it on a grounder, though, and the game remained scoreless.
The Panthers managed a walk by Eli Jaeger, but no further damage in the top of the second.
Still led off Overton’s bottom of the second with a stand-up double. After an out, during an at-bat by Jayden Edwards, Still stole third. Edwards ultimately hit to second base, and after hesitation by the second baseman, Edwards reached on an infield single, with Still remaining at third.
Edwards was thrown out on a pick-off play, though, leaving the Mustangs with two outs, and the top of the order up.
Still scored on a wild pitch, and Overton grabbed a 1-0 advantage.
In the third, Burton manages a double, the first hit of the game for the Panthers. The runner went to third on a passed ball, and then Tyler Witt drew a walk, putting runners at the corners.
But it didn’t last long. Rowe touched second, and finished the double play with a throw to first, getting the Mustangs out of the situation and sending the game to the bottom of the third.
Rowe got a single to lead off that at-bat, and then after an out, was unfortunately an out on a pick-off play.
Rylan Holleman was at the plate, two outs, and Holleman drew a walk. Osburn came on as his courtesy runner (Holleman was the catcher for this game).
Braxton Harper looked to have had a big single, but Burton’s Matt Roemer made a running, reaching catch for out three.
Holleman and Harper took a hit away from Biggs in the top of the fourth; Hill struck Biggs out, and it was a dropped third strike; Holleman recovered quickly, though, and threw Biggs out at first. Harper had to make a move to get the ball, because it appeared Holleman was hit in the hand by Biggs’ bat.
Reuben Rodriguez reached on an error, and then there was a rare walk. Hill struck Martin out, at the time his third of the game, for out two.
Brady Griffin hit into a force-out to Brody Brown at third, and that ended the inning.
Overton went 1-2-3, unfortunately, in the bottom of the fourth, but held that 1-0 lead headed to the fifth.
Roemer got a lead-off single, and in the next at-bat, a tag-out at first. Ramer stood at second, the potential game-tying run.
Witt advanced the courtesy runner with a single, and with an out, the Panthers had runners at first and third.
A line-out to Harper at first base was out two, and Witt stole second during Biggs’ at-bat. The umpire ruled that a pitch hit Biggs, and that loaded the bases for Rodriguez.
And Rodriguez… hit to left field, and a very anticlimactic third-out catch by Overton’s Jayden Edwards, keeping Burton scoreless.
In the top of the sixth, Jaeger walked; Hill tagged out Martin, and Jaeger, another potential game-tying run, went to second with just one out.
Griffin was hit by a pitch, and Ramer thrown out after a grounder to Rowe at short.
The next batter hit the ball right to Rowe, who promptly threw him out at first to send Overton to the plate in the sixth.
That’s when Still had his huge hit, the inside-the-park homer, similar to the one he hit against Beckville last week.
Joey Zalman followed with a hit, and Edwards followed with a double to left. But Burton would get out without giving up another run.
The damage was done, though, a 4-0 Overton lead at the time. Then Burton’s top of the seventh happened – and then, the end.
Overton dropped game two, 6-0, and the less said about that one, the better.
Burton’s Reuben Rodriguez did make a heck of a catch to prevent a huge hit by Holleman, and Overton had some near-misses, loading the bases early in the game, but didn’t take advantage.
Fortunately, this was only game two, and that the Mustangs pulled things together for that third game.