WAKE UP! ON ETBLITZ, SPECIAL EDITION | Overton, Collinsville play for 2A-DII state championship

EDITOR’S NOTE: We’re going LIVE here from Dell Diamond in Round Rock, as Overton (31-8) faces Collinsville (31-4), with the UIL Class 2A, Division II state baseball championship on the line! This is different — it’s not Wake Up, really, it’s more like, Stand Up!, LOL! But we’re here, going to be live throughout the game. Y’all enjoy!

• We’ve said the National Anthem and we’re under way. Collinsville’s lead-off batter, shortstop Paxton Davidson, gets on, on an infield single, and the second batter, Jaxon Jenkins, reaches too, on a bunt that actually looked like it rolled foul — it was very close.
• Rylan Holleman is pitching for Overton.
• Peyton Davidson — I’m assuming Paxton’s big or little brother, surely — is batting, and his bunt definitely goes foul. Both runners stay at first and at second. There’s two strikes on him now.
• He reaches, too, on a bang-bang play at first when the ball just hops out of Braxton Harper’s glove. It looks like the Mustangs might be dealing with a bit of nerves. Collinsville has been here the last three seasons, and won the state title last year. If the Pirates had any advantage at all coming into this game, that would be it.
• Bases are loaded for Cash Morgan, the senior first baseman. And it’s a base hit to right field. Two come in, and it’s 2-0 Collinsville in the top of the first. Morgan is at first, and Peyton Davidson holds at second. There’s no outs.
• And Garrett Trevino — wearing the oddball number of 84 — steps to the plate, and Bunt City continues. His rolls foul quickly down the third-base line, though.
• He hits the ball back down the third-base line and makes it to first, an infield single, before any Mustang can get to it. Nobody scores. But the bases are loaded again, this time for Tucker Howard.
• Howard goes to a 2-1 count. But he pops that baby up and Brody Brown, Overton’s third baseman, waves everybody off and catches it clean for out number one.
• The next at-bat, though, not good: a bunt between the pitcher’s mound and first, forcing the throw to first. Davidson sores (3-0), and on the play to first, the ball scoots away; another run, Trevino, also gets in (4-0).
• Holleman makes the easy play on the next Collinsville batter, fielding the ball and tossing it to Harper for out two.
• Brandon Cantu takes Holleman to a full count, but gets the walk to load the bases again, and the Pirates come back to the top of the lineup with Paxton Davidson, just a freshman. So he’s younger brother.
• He got everything started, but not this time. This time, he flies out, a LONG, HIGH, DRAMATIC fly ball to center field. But senior Joey Zalman IS THERE. And makes the catch, ending that for Overton and sending the Mustangs to the bottom of the first, down 4-0.

• It’s Overton up, specifically Mason Rowe, the senior shortstop. Rowe has a ball and two strikes on him after three pitches, one of them hit back over our heads here at Dell Diamond.
• Rowe REACHES, a hard-hit infield single to Baby Davidson at shortstop when the ball is bobbled on the throw to first.
• Bryson Bobbitt, another Overton senior, is up. His bunt attempt misses, for a strike. Same thing on pitch No. 2. The umpire rules that pitch three hits Bobbitt and sends him to first. Two on, no outs for Overton. So far, so good.
• Brody, Brody Brown (like Cody, Cody RHODES, the WWE chant — get it?) is hit by a pitch, too! The Mustangs have the bases loaded, with no outs!
• Rylan Holleman takes ball one.
• He swings big and misses on the second pitch, and then takes ball two. It’s a 2-1 count.
• Ball three.
• Strike two. Trevino, remember, Mr. 84, is the pitcher, by the way.
• Trevino does something not many people did this season and strikes out Holleman. That’s out No. 1.
• Braxton Harper swings and misses on the first pitch.
• Second pitch is JUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUST a bit outside (A LOT), and Harper checks his swing, but the ump says not enough and rules strike two.
• Third pitch is a ball, and fourth, Harper fouls off, so a 1-2 count.
• The next pitch is hit to short, and Collinsville turns a double play, unfortunately. Dang it, the Pirates get out of the bases-loaded situation giving up no runs. Dang it, dang it, dang it.
• It’s the top of the second, and Jenkins is hit by a pitch, the lead-off man.
• Remember, unfortunately, that Overton trails 4-0.
• Jenkins, looking slower than me on a Saturday morning at 5 a.m. in football season, tries to steal second, and catcher Bryce Still throws his butt out at second base. OUT NO. 1.
• Did I mention he looked slow?
• Big Davidson, pops a ball up and Brown comes over from third and again makes the catch of the pop-up. OUT NO. 2.
• Overton wearing white jerseys with white pants, green pinstripes and green numbers, by the way.
• Morgan flies out to right field and looks quite upset about it. OUT 3.
• Going to the bottom of the second, now, and Overton is down 4-0.
• Landon Hill leads off with a single to left!
• The speedy Still lays down a bunt between the mound and first; the pitcher tracks it down and flips it to first base, but not before Hill reaches second safely. So there’s one out.
• I love Zalman’s pink gloves.
• He’s at bat now. He takes a ball, then another. 2-0 count.
• Now it’s a 2-2 count.
• He fouls a pitch backand into the netting, as Hill looks ready to run at second. There’s one out.
• Sixth pitch to Zalman is a ball. It was almost to Nantucket.
• Fourth pitch WAS to Nantucket. Zalman walks. Runners at second (Hill) and Zalman (first).
• Collinsville stupidly tries to mess with Hill and the ball goes into shallow center. Hill takes off, and now there’s runners at the corners, as he reaches third safely.
• Jayden Edwards is at the plate, his first at-bat of the day. This freakin’ guy has two inside-the-park grand slams this year. But he lays down a bunt. Edwards is out at first, and then Hill is thrown out, so says the umpire, trying to score. That’s three outs, and the score remains 4-0 Collinsville going to the third inning.

• The pitcher, Trevino, can help his own cause here, back to the plate to face Holleman. His first pitch is hit back into foul territory. Brown races over to the third-base dugout to give it a try, but can’t quite get to it.
• Holleman has an 0-2 count on Trevino, as he keeps staying alive by fouling it off.
• OH. MY. Edwards just made a diving catch in left field, ABSOLUTELY ROBBING Trevino of probably a double. WOW. If that’s anybody but Edwards, or maybe Still, with their speed, it’s probably a hit. He had to cover some serious ground to reach that. Just wow.
• Caysen Schafer follows with a single, though, and Collinsville has one on, at first, with one out. Noe Cantu, a sophomore third baseman with a .102 average, is batting. He has a 1-1 count.
• Cantu is out at first (OUT TWO), and Jaxon Spivey, another sophomore, comes to the plate. He swings immediately, and misses. Schafer is at second.
• Ball one, strike one for Spivey. Schafer steals third. Remember, there’s two outs.
• Spivey has a full count. Don’t WANT to walk him, but don’t need to allow a hit. And he doesn’t, but he did walk. Runners at the corners for Brandon Cantu.
• What a dumb move. Schafer and apparently Spivey, although I’m not positive he really knew what he was doing, looked to be trying to bluff Overton into believing they were trying to pull off a double steal. Schafer over-committed and Still and Brown got him flustered. He stumbled a bit going back to third, Still tossed the ball to Brown, and Brown tagged him on the back. OUT THREE. What a stupid move. What a dumb, stupid move. Do more of that.
• It’s the bottom of the third now, and the top of the order is up, Mason Rowe. The count is 2-2.
• Rowe pops up to the catcher, and it’s Bryson Bobbitt’s turn.
• Trevino sits down Bobbitt for out two, and Brody Brown smacks a ball into left, and legs out a double, a two-out double. Here comes Holleman.
• And they intentionally-walk him. Wow.
• First ball is low to Braxton Harper.
• Second one is a strike.
• Third one is popped up, though, and Collinsville escapes yet again. It’s 4-0 Collinsville as we head to the top of the fourth.

• Landon Hill comes on to pitch for Overton, and immediately gets a strikeout.
• Hill got two Collinsville batters to hit back-to-back fly balls to center field, for outs two and three.
• Overton, now, in the bottom of the fourth. Hill grounds to second for an out, and Bryce Still is at bat.
• He hits to shortstop, another grounder, and also, unfortunately, is out. Two outs. Overton still trails, 4-0.
• First pitch whizzes by his left shoulder. Close. Ball one. Second one is a called strike.
• Third one is off his helmet, not too hard (easy for ME to say, huh?) and Zalman walks. Gabe Miller comes on as a courtesy runner.
• Edwards swings and misses, and the count is 1-2.
• EDWARDS SMACKS A DOUBLE to left; he’s actually hit two inside-the-park grand slams on that same kind of pitch this year. Miller holds at third, Edwards stands at second, and Rowe is at the plate, with two outs.
• First pitch is high.
• So is pitch two. Count is 2-0.
• He tries to take the easy way out and get Miller at third; no dice. Miller makes it back, and beats the throw.
• Rowe fouls off a pitch, 2-1 count.
• Now 3-1.
• Rowe hits to short, and looks like he might beat it out, but the long throw actually makes it — or it’s ruled to make it, and Collinsville gets out three. They keep Overton scoreless, and the game remains 4-0, as we go to the top of the fifth.
• Peyton Davidson walks to lead off the inning, and Morgan returns to the plate.
• Well, that didn’t last long: Harper and Rowe catch Davidson in a rundown between first and second, and he’s out again. And Morgan hits a bouncer to Rowe; he measures his throw, then zips it to Harper. OUT TWO.
• Brown fields a bit of a hopper to third, and throws the batter out for OUT THREE, and we’re in the middle of the fifth: the Mustangs are coming back to the plate in the bottom of the inning, down 4-0. They need offense: Collinsville has really done not much since the first inning, thanks to Holleman and Harper, and solid defense by the Mustangs.
• Pirates second baseman Spivey fielded two grounders for the first two outs of Overton’s fifth, and then center fielder Schafer caught a deep-hit ball by Holleman for out three.
• The top of the sixth coming up: 4-0 Pirates.
• Schafer flied out to Edwards in left for OUT ONE, and Noe Cantu struck out looking for OUT TWO. Spivey was hit by a pitch, and then pinch hitter Cooper McMillan, who looks to legit be 6-foot-4, maybe 235 pounds, steps to the plate. The ball is hit between first and second, hits Spivey and it’s ruled OUT THREE.
• Overton comes up for its bottom of the sixth now, trailing 4-0, with Harper the man due up.

• Harper hits to third, and is thrown out. Hill’s first pitch is hit back, and foul; he hits to shallow center, but the center fielder makes the catch.
• Still takes four straight balls, and walks with two outs. Zalman hits back to the pitcher, who flips it to first for the out.
• The Mustangs and Pirates are going to the top of the seventh: Collinsville leads the Mustangs, 4-0, all runs scored in the top of the first in this 2A-DII state title game.
• Freshman Davidson, the top of the order Davidson, the younger brother, leads off the inning with a double. Respect. Jenkins follows with a single, and there’s runners at the corners for big-brother Davidson.
• During his at-bat, Paxton Davidson, the one who had a lead-off double, scored on a pick-off attempt gone wrong, the first run for either team since the first inning. Overton coach Chris Cook was arguing interference, I believe, with the home plate umpire, and I could not tell if Cook was ejected or not. The run was allowed, so 5-0 Collinsville.
• That turned into 6-0 on the next at-bat, a double, scoring Jenkins.
• Morgan was issued an intentional walk (with no outs), and runners are at second and first. with Trevino at the plate. Trevino was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
• And that brought Schafer, now the Pirates’ pitcher, up. Hill delivered a pitch to the plate that had been a strike all day long, and it was called a ball by the umpire.
• Just saw Cook come out of the dugout, so apparently he was not ejected.
• Second pitch was the same; a ball called, a strike earlier. Next pitch was a ball, ball four, and scored a run (7-0 Collinsville).
• Lest we forget, this is the seventh inning
• We’ve got a pitching change. Still is coming on to pitch.
• The Mustangs have no outs on Collinsville. They hope to change that soon and then stage a HECK of a rally in the bottom of the seventh.
• Noe Cantu walked, and a run scores (8-0). Spivey to the plate. He pops up, and catcher Holleman fields it for OUT ONE. Brandon Cantu walks to score another run (9-0), and on the pitch before that, Holleman was hit by the ball somehow, and looks to be in pain in a pretty good clip; trainers and coaches come check him out, and after a few moments, he’s back behind the plate.
• Paxton Davidson hits the ball to left center for an RBI (courtesy runner Keaston Worthington), but a runner is caught in a run-down between third and second for out TWO. It’s 10-0 Collinsville.
• Jaxon Jenkins gets a single, and it’s a 2-RBI single to make it 12-0.
• Finally, a fly ball is caught by Jayden Edwards in left field to end the inning, one in which the Pirates scored eight runs and the score increased from 4-0 Collinsville to 12-0.
• Overton will need a big rally; we’ll see if they can do it.
• The PA is playing “YMCA.” After YEARS of hearing this at games, haven’t heard this in a minute.
• Edwards gets to be the lead-off batter. And it’s his second double of the game.
• Top of the order: Rowe now. Gosh, it looked like the right fielder dropped it, but he didn’t. One out. Edwards still at second.
• Bobbitt at the plate now.
• Ball one. Foul ball, tipped and on the ground in front of the batter’s box.
• Bobbitt hits it, but just over the pitcher’s head. Schafer leaps to knock it down and manages to do it; he grabs it and throws him out. Two outs. Brown at bat now. Ball gets by the catcher, but Edwards holds at third.
• Three balls now on Brown.
• Brown walks. Runners at the corners for Holleman.
• Ball one.
• Ball two. WAY outside.
• Ball three. Same one.
• Strike. Inside and an AWFUL call. Seriously.
• Strike two, swinging this time.
• Fly ball to center, and that’s the game. Collinsville wins, 12-0, in a game not nearly as one-sided as the score.

Overton, congratulations on a great season, guys. A 31-9 record, and the state finalists is absolutely nothing to hang heads over.

We’ll have a game story and season wrap-up later, but for now, signing off here on ETBlitz, for Wake Up, and if you’re here at Dell Diamond, be safe going home.