HIGH SCHOOLS
Travis’ bats hot entering regional; state tournament awaits Deer Park
Baseball and softball updates from around the Houston area
Deer bracing for Tigers onslaught
1 Deer Park edged Ridge Point 5-2 in Game 3 to win their Class 6A Region III semifinals series 2-1 last weekend. But both the Panthers’ runs came in the sixth, when Deer Park committed two costly errors, and it can’t afford to give away any extra runs to high-powered Travis in the regional final. “We’ve got to buckle down and do a little better,” coach Chris Rupp said. “We had a couple little snafus on defense out there we’ve got to be better at, and score a few more runs, but we know it’s going to be tough against Travis.” Still, the Deer are back in their second straight regional final, without the high expectations they faced last year, when they were 35-0 after winning the opener against Langham Creek. They went on to lose that series in three games, but now they have a second chance at their first state appearance since 1990, when Andy Pettitte was a senior at Deer Park.
Cubs bounce back big
3 Brenham stumbled in its opener with Crosby in the 5A regional semis, falling 14-4 in five innings after the Cougars scored back-to-back runs on wild pitches to end the game early. Starter Dane Acker didn’t even make it out of the first inning after surrendering seven runs before his third
Travis tearing through playoffs
2 Travis is 8-1 in the playoffs, with the lone loss a 2-1 setback against Katy. Take that game out of the equation, and the Tigers are averaging 9.3 runs in eight postseason wins, hitting double digits four times with three run-rule victories. Junior infielder Jaren Burks is doing much of the damage, going 4-for-8 with three RBIs and three runs scored in the sweep of North Shore last week after a big series against Katy. But the hits are coming from everywhere, with Cole Turney, Sammy Faltine, Brandon Pruitt and Ryan Rickett all coming up clutch in the regional semis. Travis’ Jaren Burks is coming off a big performance in the Tigers’ regional semifinal victory.
out. But none of that mattered once the Cubs returned to Brenham, where they bounced back with 9-4 and 3-2 wins to take the series — in large part due to Acker’s turnaround. He hit three home runs and supplied seven RBIs in the Friday doubleheader.
PN-G topples Tomball
4 Tomball won its regional semifinal opener 6-1 but lost the next two games to Port Neches-Groves, which advanced to face Brenham in a best-of-three 5A Region III final at Sam Houston State in Huntsville. But the Tomball program is in good shape after making at least the regional semis for the fifth time in six years, with two state berths and a 2013 state championship. The Cougars are 43-17 in the playoffs the last six seasons, and they return four of their top five hitters, including 20-5A MVP Eric Oakes.
Deer do it with defense
5 Erin Edmoundson was great in Deer Park’s 6-5 win over Katy in Game 2 to sweep their 6A Region III softball final, but the real hero was the Deer defense. While the Tigers made four errors in Game 2, and six for the series, the Deer were flawless in the clincher and committed only one error in the opener. They allowed runs in only one inning in Game 2 despite no Tigers striking out, and freshman Alaina Cortez supplied two sensational grabs in left. “It works out,” Edmoundson said. “The strikeouts will come, and (Friday) they weren’t coming, but I knew our defense was solid.”
Deer face reigning champions
6 The state championship matchmakers weren’t kind to the Deer (38-6), who open the 6A tournament against reigning state champ Keller (33-6-1). Both teams have more wins — and more state titles — than Austin Bowie (30-4) and San Antonio Brennan (29-7), but that doesn’t factor highly into the UIL formula. Deer Park won championships in 2012 and 2014, and Keller won in 2003, 2005 and 2016.
Austgen has familiar feeling
7 Deer Park coach Carrie Austgen sees similarities between this group and their first state championship team, which beat Klein Collins 6-0 in the 2012 6A final. “This team is similar to the ’12 team, where we were beat up a little bit … and people didn’t count on us, and then it all came together,” she said. “That’s what this team reminds me of.”
Deer Park vs. Keller softball, 6A semifinals, 3 p.m. Friday, UT’s McCombs Field, Austin
8 P/OF Erin Edmoundson, the only holdover from 2014, and the Deer open their fourth state tourney in six years against eight-time state qualifier Keller, led by sophomore P Dylann Kaderka (28-5).
Brenham vs. Port NechesGroves baseball, Game 2, 7 p.m. Friday, Huntsville
9 The Cubs, led by pitchers Dane Acker (Rice) and Chandler Jozwiak (San Jacinto College), resume their regional final series with the Indians at Sam Houston State after a Thursday hiatus.
Deer Park vs. Travis baseball, Game 2, 7:30 p.m., Crosby
10 Pitcher Clay Aguilar (Houston) and the back-to-back regional finalist Deer collide with highpowered Travis, which rolled into its first regional final with a sweep of North Shore.