WAKE UP! on ETBLITZ | Baseball playoffs resume Thursday; playing the waiting game with the UIL on Henderson softball; Rangers knock off Seattle
It’s Monday, the first Monday edition ever of Wake Up! on ETBlitz.com. Let’s catch up on the baseball and softball playoffs first, and then we’ll talk about the Texas Rangers. Wake Up! is sponsored by Cozy Coffee Station, in both Kilgore and Gilmer – they’re second-to-none, by the way. Order ahead of time online here (here: Home | Cozy Coffee Station, and on Instagram and on Facebook) and don’t take our word for it: try Cozy Coffee Station yourself at 110 Midtown Plaza in Kilgore, or 755 U.S. Highway 271 in Gilmer.
HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL PLAYOFFS
So, we’ll begin with the University Interscholastic League baseball playoffs, and unfortunately, the easiest way to report it is who from the ETBlitz.com coverage area is still left in them.
That would be Henderson in Class 4A, Division I; Tatum, in Class 3A, Division I; and Overton, in 2A, Division II.
Everyone else bowed out this past weekend, all in best-of-three-game series. And we’ll talk about that below.
For now, here’s what’s coming in the second round.
Henderson: Henderson (18-12), coached by Brock Lemire, will take on Pleasant Grove (28-4) in the second, or area, round of 4A-DI.
The series will be played in Marshall at East Texas Baptist University, and game one is Thursday night at 7 p.m. Game two is Friday night at 6, and if they need a game three to decide it, it’ll follow game two by a few minutes.
The Lions beat Mabank in three games, winning the final two after losing game one.
Pleasant Grove beat Caddo Mills in the first round.
The Henderson-PG winner moves on to the regional semifinals, round three, to meet either Alvarado (16-9) or Panther Creek (17-9-4).
Tatum: The Eagles got two wins over Mineola, 4-0 and 10-0, and ended their series quickly in Brook Hill.
Now, Tatum (21-9) heads to round two / area to meet Liberty-Eylau. If that’s familiar, it’s because the Eagles’ boys basketball team met Liberty-Eylau in round two of the playoffs, as well, a few months ago; L-E was undefeated, but Tatum knocked off the Leopards, ending their season.
Apparently, the details of that series aren’t set. As soon as we know them, we’ll have them here.
We do know this: the winner of Tatum and L-E will meet Whitesboro (13-12) or Pottsboro (18-7-1).
Overton: The Mustangs, as we chronicled here (PLAYOFFS CONTINUE | Tatum & White Oak join the party tonight, as the other series resume; Overton advances in a one-gamer), lost a flip in their first-round series against LaPoynor – LaPoynor wanted to play only one game, and Overton wanted a best-of-three series.
After LaPoynor won the flip, they lost the series: Overton beat them, 4-2, and now faces James Bowie (20-6) in round two.
That series will begin in Tatum on Thursday night at 7, and Overton (24-7) will be the home team. Game two is Friday in Atlanta, a 5 o’clock start, and Overton is the visitor. Game three, if necessary, will be played 30 minutes after the conclusion of game two.
The Overton-Bowie winner will face either Lovelady (19-10-1) or Gary (14-7) in round three.
HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL
What most people in the area, especially in Henderson, are talking about is how the Lady Lions apparent exit – and we say “apparent” because there are things in the works – from the playoffs was so controversial.
The video can be viewed here (HENDERSON SOFTBALL LOSES HEARTBREAKER… after officials reverse decision on 7th-inning play (w/ video)), and has been thousands and thousands of times since Saturday afternoon here on ETBlitz.com.
Henderson officially lost game three of their best-of-three playoff in Athens to Community, a 5-4 game three decision on Saturday. But ETBlitz is under the understanding that a protest is being filed.
That’s because in the seventh inning of game three against Community, with Henderson leading 4-3, Community was at bat. Henderson had two outs on Community, and the Lady Lions needed only one out to win.
And when the ball was put into play, Community’s runner at third was trying to steal home. She ran out of the base path trying to do so, but was still tagged by Henderson’s Jayda Brown.
The runner ran on to home and scored, as if the tag hadn’t happened, but it did, and the umpire called the runner out – the game was over.
But the runner who was ruled out began to complain about obstruction, and Community’s coach began to argue the same. Incredibly, even though the game was ruled to be over by the lead umpire, officials huddled and talked briefly, reversed the decision and ruled that not only was the runner not out, but she had scored, and that the game was tied at 4-all, and would continue.
Henderson went on to lose the game, 5-4, in extra innings.
ETBlitz.com will have an update on this situation as soon as we can.
The other softball teams from the ETBlitz.com area that had been left in the playoffs are unfortunately both out: Gilmer lost to Sulphur Springs in a best-of-three series in the 4A-DI playoffs, and Troup, which had been in the 3A-DII playoffs, lost to DeKalb.
RANGERS GET A WIN
The Texas Rangers, two seasons removed from a World Series championship and with one of the most talented rosters in baseball, have slipped from the lead in the American League West all the way down to fourth. Now, mind you, it’s early in the season, and there’s so much time left, obviously.
But Texas is 17-18, and chasing down first-place Seattle. It was easy to do on Sunday, because Texas actually had Seattle on their on field at Globe Life Park. Texas won, 8-1, and the Rangers are now 17-18 overall, and four games behind the Mariners out of first.
Jacob deGrom got the win, and is already 2-1 on the season. He threw five innings, giving up just one earned run on three hits; he walked two and had three strikeouts.
The Rangers scored six runs in the third, and finished with 12 hits.
Josh Smith had his best day this season, going 4-for-5 with an RBI. Corey Seager had two hits and two RBI. Wyatt Langford and Jonah Heim each hit a home run.
The Rangers are off today (Monday) and are back in action Tuesday at Boston, a 5:45 Texas-time start.
And we’ll be back, too, later today. Make it a good one.