2A BASEBALL PLAYOFF UPDATE | Overton, Beckville both cruise into second round
{PRESENTED BY COZY COFFEE STATION}
Baseball teams from the bigger schools in the ETBlitz.com coverage area weren’t the only ones who had success in the first round of the University Interscholastic League playoffs.
Yes, Kilgore and Carthage are still playing in Class 4A, Division 1 and 4A-D2 as round two, the area round, begins this week. Tatum, White Oak and Troup are all still alive in 3A; Tatum in D1 and White Oak and Troup both in 3A-D2.
But Beckville and Overton are holding their own in the 2A-D2 playoffs. Neither is a surprise: the Bearcats have a very good baseball history, and Overton has both the history and recent success: the Mustangs reached Dell Diamond and the state tournament a year ago.
Both Overton (12-13) and Beckville (17-8) are getting set for round two.
Overton
The Mustangs, now led by head coach Braden Robey, will face McLeod in round two. That best-of-three-game series will begin Thursday at 5 p.m. at Hallsville High School.
Game two will be 30 minutes after game one. If they need a third game to decide it, it’ll be Friday night, back in Hallsville at 6 p.m.
Overton, according to the school’s athletic Facebook page, will be in the third base dugout.
McLeod (10-8) beat Como-Pickton to reach this round; Overton beat Cayuga in a sweep.
The Overton-McLeod winner will face either Douglass or West Sabine in round three, also referred to by the UIL as the regional semifinals.
Overton swept Cayuga this past week in the first round.
In a 10-3 win of game one, Rylan Holleman and Wyatt Mosely each hit home runs – both each finished 2-of-3 with 3 RBI.
Gabe Miller had two hits, both of them doubles, and 2 RBI.
Landon Hill, Nolan Hill, Brody Brown and Ethan Smith all each had a single; Smith had an RBI.
Holleman went six innings on the mound, allowing two runs (both earned) on five hits; he walked six and struck out three. Brown came on for an inning, allowing one run and no hits, with three walks and two strikeouts.
In game two, Overton plated two runs in the fourth inning to break up what had been a scoreless game. They added three runs each in both the fifth and sixth innings, and overcame three errors for an 8-4 win.
Pitcher Landon Hill had a heck of a day – on the mound and off it. He hit a solo home run and finished with 2 RBI, and on the mound, he gave up only three hits and two runs (both earned). He did walk seven, but struck out seven, and all of that in the course of 5 2/3 innings.
Brown also pitched for Overton, 1 1/3 innings, allowing two runs (both earned) on two hits, and four walks. He had one strikeout.
Including Hill’s homer, the Mustangs finished with nine hits. Mosely went 2-for-3 with an RBI; Brooks Davis was 2-of-4; and Kash Holleman, Smith, Nolan Hill, and Brown each had hits – Smith and Nolan Hill each had an RBI, and Rylan Holleman also added an RBI.
Beckville
The Bearcats, meanwhile, will face Martin’s Mill in a best-of-three that will be played at Mike Carter Field in Tyler.
Game one will be Thursday at 7 p.m., and MMHS will be the home team. Game two is Friday at 7, and it’ll be the Bearcats as the home team.
A third game will be Saturday at 1 p.m. if it’s needed.
Tickets are $8 each for everyone, and passes will be accepted.
The winner of the Beckville-MMHS series will face either Gary or Grapeland in round three.
Martin’s Mill beat Bowie in three games in the first-round series.
Beckville made ultra-quick work of LaPoynor in round one: a 10-1 game one win, and 15-5 in game two.
The first game was tied at 1-all at the end of the first inning.
And that was it. That was LaPoynor’s time to be competitive in the series. Beckville scattered nine runs over the rest of the game for the win.
The Bearcats out-hit LaPoynor, 12-2, and that was because Beckville pitchers Wesdon Harris and Braxton Bullock were almost un-hittable. Harris started and got the win, a six-inning performance where he struck out seven, walked four, but only allowed one run (earned) on two hits. And Bullock pitched a full inning, giving up nothing at all and recording one strikeout.
Reese Davis had three hits for the Bearcats and an RBI. Braxton Allred, Reed Chapman and Levi Ross each had two hits – Chapman and Ross each had an RBI. And Bullock, Brody Booth and Harris each had a hit; Harris and Booth each had an RBI.
LaPoynor led 4-3 after the first inning of game two, and went on to score just once more in what became a Beckville route. Neither team was completely sharp defensively: LaPoynor committed six errors, and Beckville, half that.
But the Bearcats were still on point, for the most part, and nothing could cool off those bats: 15 hits for the Bearcats in the contest, to five for LaPoynor.
Ross had a double and finished with 3 RBI. Harris had a triple, also had a single, and had 4 RBI. Davis again had three hits and an RBI, and also had three stolen bases, as did Booth. Bullock and Chapman also each had two hits – Chapman had 2 RBI, Bullock, one.
Brock White had two hits, and Jackson Lambright and Booth each had one.
