WAKE UP! ON ETBLITZ | Overton wins game one; Henderson, Tatum both slip; congratulations to Arp’s Martin; Pickens settling in quickly with Cowboys
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High school baseball playoffs
Overton High School baseball is a win away from advancing to the third round of the University Interscholastic League’s Class 2A, Division I playoffs.
Henderson lost the first game of its series on Thursday, and Tatum lost game one of its series Thursday night, as well.
ETBlitz.com is endeavoring to get details on both of those games.
Overton
Overton had eight hits, held Bowie to two, and run-ruled the Pirates, 11-1, on Thursday night in game one of the best-of-three series between the teams, in the second, or area, round of the playoffs at Bullard High School.
Game two is Friday night at 5 p.m. in Atlanta. If Overton (24-6) wins that one, then the series is over, Bowie is out, and Overton will play either Lovelady (19-10-1) or Gary (14-7) in the regional semifinals. If Bowie is able to win game two, then game three would follow just a few minutes later Friday in Atlanta.
Thursday in game one, Overton got the scoring started quickly with two runs in the first inning. The Mustangs would score four runs in the third and four more in the fourth; Bowie’s only run came in the fourth, as well. Overton ended the game in the fifth with a run, putting them up by 10.
Rylan Holleman had a triple and an RBI, and scored twice for the Mustangs. Brody Brown had two hits, one of them a double, 2 RBI, and scored twice.
Bryson Bobbitt also had two hits, including a double, and scored two runs. Braxton Harper had a single, 2 RBI and scored twice. And Mason Rowe had two hits, both singles, scored a run and had 2 RBI.
Four different players had a stolen base each: Rowe, Harper, Brown and Landon Hill.
Holleman threw, going all five innings on the mound. He allowed just one run, earned, and two hits. He walked three and had eight strikeouts.
Henderson / Pleasant Grove
Pleasant Grove dealt Henderson an 11-0 loss in five innings at East Texas Baptist University in Marshall, where that entire series in Class 4A, Division I will be played.
Now the pressure is on the Lions (18-13). To keep their season going, they’ll need a win Friday night at 6 p.m., back at ETBU, otherwise the season ends for Henderson. If Henderson wins game two, then a third game will also be Friday night, about 30 minutes after game two there at ETBU.
Buck Anderson had an RBI single to score teammate Spencer Browning and give PG a 1-0 lead on Thursday.
Leading 2-0 in the fourth, Jared Halter put the ball in play, and was safe at first on an error – Walker Wright would score on the play and give the Hawks a 3-0 lead.
Browning came up, still in the fourth, and hit a triple, allowing PG to score again. Browning almost hit for the cycle (a single, a double, a triple and a home run), but ironically it was the single that he didn’t get – he had the double, the triple and the homer.
The winner of Henderson-PG will meet either Alvarado (16-9) or Panther Creek (17-9-4) 4A-DI regional semifinals next week.
Tatum
The Eagles will have their backs against the wall in game two, after dropping the first game to Liberty-Eylau, 9-4, on Thursday night.
Tatum (21-10) trails, now, and will have to win game two to force a game three; the Eagles will have to win both to win the series. If L-E beats Tatum in game two, the series is over.
Game one was played at Jim Reeves Memorial Field at Panola Carthage. Game two is Friday night at Pleasant Grove High School, a 7 p.m. start; that’s really in L-E’s backyard.
And game three would be Saturday at 2 p.m. in Winnsboro.
In game one Thursday night, L-E (28-4) scored early, taking a 2-0 lead in the first inning after Gabe James and Triston Haugh had hits.
The Leopards led until the third inning. Cayden Tatum scored on a grounder by Cooper Whiteus to cut L-E’s lead in half (2-1), and then it was Whiteus again with a 2 RBI triple in the fourth to give Tatum a lead (3-2), and then Whiteus himself scored on a wild pitch (4-2).
Back-to-back-to-back singles by Haugh, Collin Evans and Eli Jarvis of L-E helped get the Leopards in position to tie the game, and they did so with a sacrifice fly by Dylan Nabors, and then a bunt put in play by Gabe James (4-4).
Unfortunately, the Eagles wouldn’t tag home plate again. L-E got a two-run homer by Arian Taylor that put them in front, 6-4, and they would add three insurance runs to put the game out of reach.
Tristin Berry and Tucker Anthony both were on the mound for Tatum during the game; Berry went six innings, with 13 hits and two walks allowed, and struck out two, and Anthony pitched an inning, allowing no hits or walks, and struck out one.
Arp’s Martin signs letter of intent
Congratulations to Arp High School’s AB Martin, who is moving on to college baseball.
Martin was surrounded by family and friends as he signed a letter of intent with Central Christian College. CCC is located in McPherson, Kansas.
Pickens stating the obvious for Cowboys
George Pickens, a talented wide receiver that has spent his whole NFL career in Pittsburgh, is now in Dallas – the Cowboys traded for the disgruntled receiver on Wednesday (Cowboys acquire WR George Pickens from Steelers for draft picks – Field Level Media).
By Thursday, apparently, it had hit Pickens that, you know, he and CeeDee Lamb now play for the same team. And stuff.
“I just feel like schematically, you won’t be able to double everybody, so that will be a great thing for me and him,” Pickens said on a conference call Thursday with members of the Dallas-Area feeling.
Pickens is 24, and had been rumored to be traded, or leave, the Steelers for several months. Pickens expects to do big things with Dak Prescott at the helm of the Cowboys’ offense.
“One of the first guys I was definitely [in contact] with was Dak,” Pickens said Thursday. “Just watching his game over the years, he’s a very prolific quarterback. Smart QB at that. I’m just glad to be working with him.”
Pickens, drafted by the Steelers in 2022, has 2,841 yards and 12 touchdowns on 174 catches in his three-year NFL career.
We’ll be back with all kinds of things later today, including updates tonight on the three high school baseball playoff series.