RAIDERS KNOCK OFF ND! | Tatum advances, WO softball in game three, Overton girls advance, more
West Rusk pulled off maybe one of the biggest upsets of the first round of the UIL Class 3A playoffs, spilling normally-strong New Diana out of them.
That was just one result from postseason play around the ETBlitz.com area on Friday night, and here are more.
In baseball, Bullard defeated Kilgore, 6-0, at Driller Park in Kilgore, and advanced to face either Liberty or Bridge City in the area round (our story is here: BULLDOGS BOW OUT | Bullard sends Kilgore out of postseason; senior class never missed it); Lufkin Hudson was at home and defeated Henderson, 2-1, to finish the Lions’ season. LHHS advances to play either Hardin-Jefferson or Vidor in round two.
Elysian Fields beat Gladewater Friday night, sweeping the Bears (7-3 on Thursday night and 4-3 on Friday) in a series played in Atlanta, and move on to face either Atlanta, ironically, or Mineola in round two. Tatum defeats White Oak in Marshall – 10-0 on Thursday night and 2-0 on Friday – to move on. The Eagles will play either Winnsboro or Queen City up next in the area round.
Troup and Daingerfield are going to need a game three. That’s because Troup, who lost game one, bounced back to shut out Daingerfield, 10-0, in game two in Bullard, and forced a third game to that series. It’ll be played Saturday at 2 p.m. in Longview.
And the Overton Mustangs’ season comes to an end. Softball plays on (more below), but the baseball season is over, as they slip to Frankston in Winnsboro. Frankston advances to play either Cumby or Ore City in round two.
In softball, in the UIL Class 3A playoffs, after winning game one in Marshall, White Oak was stunned in game two, losing to Hooks. A winner-take-all game three is set for 3 p.m. Saturday at Marshall High School.
And Henderson has been eliminated from the Class 4A playoffs by one of the top seeds, Liberty. Liberty (32-2) beat Henderson, 10-1, on Friday night, ending the best-of-three series.
Overton also won its series with Bowie, sweeping Bowie with a 5-1 win on Friday night.
BASEBALL
West Rusk 5, New Diana 3: The West Rusk Raiders scored four runs in the second inning and coasted to the finish line with a 5-3 win over the New Diana Eagles on Friday at Lobo Field in Longview.
That, combined with a win over ND on Thursday night in Tyler, allows the Raiders to advance to the second round of the UIL Class 3A playoffs, and sends New Diana – well, out.
Ty Harper had a double and an RBI, Xander Mason also had a double, and Darren Nix had two singles for West Rusk, who will play Dekalb at a time, site and place to be determined. We’ll let you know here on ETBlitz.com, as soon as we know.
Also for WR, Jase Reasoner, Carson McCarthy and Luis Sanchez each had an RBI. On the mound, Kullin Tavarez got the complete-game win, seven innings with five strikeouts.
Elysian Fields 4, Gladewater 3: These two teams went back to Atlanta after EF won game one on Thursday night, 7-3.
Chaelton Cook had a double for EF and Blake Widon and Evan White each had a double for the Yellowjackets, who closed out the Bears, and move on to meet either Mineola or Atlanta in the second round.
Preston Bohanon had two singles for Gladewater. Jeremiah Flanagan had 2 RBI and Mason Budro had one.
Tatum 2, White Oak 0: The Eagles scored 10 runs and allowed none on Wednesday night to the Roughnecks, but it was a lot more difficult Friday night.
More difficult or not, they got the win, and Tatum advances.
They’ll play either Winnsboro or Queen City in round two.
Fresh off of competing in the high jump at the UIL State Track & Field Championships, the Eagles got a triple from Cayden Tatum; Kody Hines had two singles; and Ashby Anthony went six innings on the mound with five strikeouts for the win. Carson Gonzalez finished the game for Tatum.
Caleb Maxted had a triple and Jaxsen Ludlow had two singles for White Oak.
SOFTBALL
Liberty 10, Henderson 1: The Lady Lions’ offense just couldn’t get going in a tough series against Liberty, who’s only lost twice all season.
Chloe Ellis had a double and an RBI for the Lady Lions in the game. Addy Standley had a single, and KK Brooks had one, as well.
Henderson got six strikeouts from Jacie Boothe, who went the distance.
For Liberty, Brookelyn Taylor got the win, with 12 strikeouts.
They’ll face either Bridge City or Lufkin Hudson in round three.
Overton 5, Bowie 1: The Lady Mustangs did not have it easy on Friday.
Overton actually LOST game two. They won game three, 5-1, though, at Winnsboro, and move on to round three, where they’ll meet Cross Roads next week, in a series to be decided. ETBlitz.com will let you know when it’s set.
In the win Friday night, Kayla Nobles had a triple and a double; Lila Gurley had a double; and Siann LeVoy had two singles; and Gurley, Nobles, Kasha Williams and Chelsea Jordan all each had a jersey.