3A BASEBALL PLAYOFF UPDATES | Tatum steamrolling folks; White Oak into round two; Huml heroics (and more) send Troup to area, as well
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Welp, that didn’t last long.
Coach Dustin Russell’s Tatum High School Eagles made shorter work of Quitman than a football team in the hamburger line after a spring scrimmage.
Tatum went to Lindale and then demolished Quitman twice – 13-3 on Wednesday and 14-1 on Friday, sailing to the second round of the UIL Class 3A, Division I playoffs.
The Eagles are 24-6 on the season, have won seven straight games (their last loss was April 10 to Brook Hill) and will meet Liberty-Eylau in the second, or area, round in a series that we’re waiting on to be announced. When ETB has details, we’ll have it here, and on our social media, as well.
L-E went to a third and deciding game against Hughes Springs, winning that to earn the shot at Tatum.
In their game one win over Quitman, Tatum scattered 13 runs over five innings, with eight hits.
Tucker Anthony went 2-of-2 with 3 RBI for Tatum. Beau Keitz also went 2-of-2, and added 2 RBI. Cooper Whiteus, Grant Adcock, Colt Bullard, and Cannon Smith all each had a hit; Bullard and Adcock each had 2 RBI and Whiteus had one.
Keitz and Adcock each had a triple, and Smith and Bullard each had a double.
Bullard got the win, going all the five innings. He gave up six hits and two walks, but just the three runs (two earned). Bullard struck out four.
For Quitman, it was a rough day for all the pitching, but Cannin Peppers allowed four runs – just one earned – on seven walks and two hits. He had two strikeouts.
In game two of the series, things did not go any better for Quitman – they just went longer.
Tatum didn’t run-rule QHS, because of the way they scored their 14 runs: one in the second, five more in the fifth, and eight in the seventh.
Tatum pitcher Logan Tovar allowed Quitman just two hits. Tovar gave up one run (earned), walked two, and struck out eight.
Smith, Adcock, Anthony and Mason Pugliese each had a double, as the Eagles collected 11 hits. Pugliese had 4 RBI in the game.
Kody Hines went 2-of-3 and had four stolen bases.
Anthony went 2-of-4 with an RBI; Adcock had the double and had 2 RBI; and Keitz went 2-of-4 with 2 RBI.
White Oak
Coach Charles Foshee’s Roughnecks won a high-scoring game one over Edgewood, then won game two with a lot less runs on Thursday to advance to round two.
The Roughnecks will meet New Boston in the next round, although we’ll have to grab details of that series when it’s set – see ETBlitz.com and we’ll announce it when we know it.
Game one looked to be disaster for the Roughnecks (15-13-1) early, as they gave up eight runs in the first two innings, and trailed 10-3 before beginning their comeback.
Edgewood went up 10-3 – and didn’t score again. White Oak outscored EHS 9-0 from the third inning until game’s end.
The ‘Necks did commit five errors, but also had 11 hits.
Jaxsen Ludlow had three of them, going 3-of-5, all singles. Nico Soto (2-of-4) and Will Thomas each had 3 RBI; Thomas had a double, as did T.J. Jackson. Tyson McKinney went 2-of-4. Jackson also had 2 RBI.
Jordy Robertson, Thomas, and Braden Callens each had a hit, and Callens had an RBI.
Three guys threw for the ‘Necks Iin the game. Carson Armstrong went two innings, allowing eight runs (only four of them earned) on six hits, and two walks. He struck out one. Thomas went four innings and allowed a hit and walked two. But he didn’t give up a run and had three strikeouts. And Mac Smith pitched an inning, allowing two runs on one hit and two walks.
Game two was all White Oak on the scoreboard – but it was a scoreless tie until the ‘Necks scored all four runs in the sixth inning.
Edgewood committed three errors, but the main thing was not being able to hit White Oak pitcher Logan Langewisch. Like, at all. As in NONE. Langewisch threw a no-hitter, only walked one, and struck out 12. And he did that on 111 pitches.
Seven hits at the plate for the Roughnecks: Soto had a double; Jackson had a hit and an RBI; Mac Smith had a hit, as did Levi Sipes; and McKinney also had one. Robertson had two.
Troup
In the first round of the UIL 3A, Division 2 playoffs, Troup made short work of Grand Saline – but it wasn’t without stress.
The Tigers took care of Grand Saline in two games, both played Thursday night. But game one was a 5-4 contest that went to extra innings, and game two, 4-1.
Troup (15-12-2) will face Hooks (XXX) in the area round that’s up next – when that series is set and we have details, they’ll be published right here.
In game one, Troup was smacked in the mouth somewhat in the first inning: three Grand Saline runners crossed the plate, putting Troup in a 3-0 hole.
But Troup pushed back, tied the game and then in the top of the eighth, Bryson Needham and Carter Graves UN-tied the game, putting Troup in front. Here’s how it went down: Grady Lowry walked, and Needham came on as his courtesy runner.
After a strikeout, Conner Smith hit a line-drive single to Grand Saline second baseman Bo Hathcock. But the Indians couldn’t complete the out, and Needham was safe at second, as Smith safely reached first.
Both runners advanced on a wild pitch during an at-bat by Graves – Needham to third, Smith to second – and then Graves hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Needham. The Indians put an end to Troup’s top-of-the-eighth at-bat with a ground out, but Grand Saline now trailed, 5-4.
In the bottom of the eighth, Troup went to work to hold Grand Saline to four runs. Jaykob Price grounded out, retired by Troup’s Logan Lockey on the trow from Smith to first.
Second batter: Gabe Means, a strike three swinging off the pitch from Hayden Huml, on in relief of Graves, the starter.
Third batter: Gage Remington. And Gage was struck out by Huml, sending the Troup players, coaches and crowd celebrating.
Huml only threw the final 1 1/3 innings, but gave up NOTHING: no hits, no runs, no walks. Oh, yeah – and not one but two HUGE strikeouts, maybe the two biggest strikeouts of his high school career so far.
Graves was solid for 6 2/3 innings, too: he allowed six hits, but only four runs, and just two of those were earned. He walked three and struck out eight.
Their counterparts on the other side were Bo Hathcock, who had seven innings of work, and then Kaison Bolin, who came on in relief. Hathcock was steady enough, allowing nine hits, five runs (four earned), three walks, with seven strikeouts.
The Tigers had 10 hits: Huml went 3-of-4 with 2 RBI; Braxton Barton went 2-of-5; and Graves, Caden Switzer, Lowry, Smith and Carson Allen, all with a hit each. Allen and Graves each had an RBI, as well.
Game two was scoreless for four innings before Troup rolled up three runs in the fifth on a mess of a play (more below). Grand Saline just couldn’t find it, struggling offensively throughout the game – the Indians did get one run in the seventh to avoid the shutout.
In the fifth, Allen and Smith each earned a walk, and then with two outs, Barton earned another.
Huml came to the plate and smacked a single into left. It was enough to score Needham (running for Allen) and Smith. Barton took third and Huml, second, on the throw, but then Grand Saline’s catcher, Jaykob Price, committed an error and it allowed Barton to come home, too, a 3-0 lead for Troup late in the game that proved to be just disaster for the Indians.
They never recovered. Their lone run of the game was on a sacrifice fly by Cameron Martinez, scoring Colby Koonce.
Troup had advanced with the 4-1 win.
Allen got the win on the mound, a complete-game seven-inning job that saw him notch six strikeouts while only allowing the one run (earned) on five hits and three walks.
Ryder Key took the loss for Grand Saline, going five innings and only allowing two hits. But Troup scored four runs, three of them earned, and Key walked six. He also struck out six.
Antoni Quentero came on for an inning and allowed no runs, only a hit and a walk. He had a strikeout.
Troup had just three hits in this one: a double by James Pierce, a single by Switzer, but then of course, that hit by Huml that pretty much ended the game. Huml was credited with 2 RBI on it, the third scored on the error.
