Mustangs drop pair, fall to Troup in their best-of-three series
LONGVIEW, Texas—Hughes Springs had a bad day on the baseball diamond at the worst possible time.
The Mustangs, up a game in their 3A best-of-3 series against Troup, suffered a pair of losses Saturday, 6-0 and 7-6, to fall to the Tigers in the area round at Longview's Lobo Field.
A couple of early defensive miscues proved costly in the rubber game for Hughes Springs, which ends its season at 23-5, despite a late rally attempt to tie the game that came up 90 feet short.
Troup advances to play either Winnsboro or Beckville in the Region II-3A quarterfinals next week.
“I felt like our kids might've pressed a little too much,” Hughes Springs coach Brandon Green said. “I told them after the first game to forget about everything that just happened and just start over.
“With the way the third one started, we could've still been worried about how the played the first game and not really letting it go.
GAME 3 TROUP 7, HUGHES SPRINGS 6
The Mustangs finally got the
offense going in the bottom of the third.
Shawn Pope, the lone senior for Hughes Springs, grounded a single to left, and Andrew Gaul followed with a hit to right. Riley McKinney drove in Pope with his liner to right, and Gaul ended up scoring on a wild pitch.
McKinney also raced home on a wild pitch to cut the deficit to 7-3 before Harrison Reagan's 2-out single down the left-field line.
Triston Hickey led off Hughes Springs' fourth with a liner-drive single to left. Brady McEntire grounded a single past the second baseman, and Gaul drove in a run with his second straight hit. A flyball dropped into shallow right-center, but McEntire was thrown out at third on a force out.
Bo McEntire's bouncer to left drove in another Hughes Springs run to make it 7-5.
In their final at-bat, the Mustangs got hits from Alex Bruce and Reagan, but a bunt to the mound cut down the runner at third. Another come-backer accounted for the second out, putting the potential tying run at second.
Pinch-runner Cooper Perry scored in place of Reagan on a wild pitch, but a popup in foul territory stranded pinch-runner Cameron Johns at third to end the game.
The Tigers jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first. A pair of throwing errors put the first two batters in the Troup order on base, and the first run came all the way around on the second throwing error. Colton Whitsell squeeze-bunted the second run home.
Jones Ard lined a single to right, and Nelson and Wyatt Wood followed with RBI hits.
“Our kids compete, and sometimes you just want them to go put somebody away,” Green said. “We've struggled with that all year long. We're going to learn from it, get better and come back next year.
“It's a tough loss; I hate it for the kids, hate it for the one senior (Pope). He's battled all year long. We started out with about 13 in his class, and he's the only one left standing.”
The Tigers added to their advantage in the third. Justin Nelson doubled to left-center to start the inning, and Wood drove him in on a single to right-center. Jaden Lewis bunted for a hit, and a hit batsman loaded the bases with no outs.
A grounder to third cut down the runner at home, Weslee Ross was struck by a pitch to earn an RBI, and Rowdy Howell's sacrifice fly to left made it 7-0
Alex Bruce took the pitching loss, lasting 2 1-3 innings and giving up all seven runs—three earned—on seven hits. He had no walks or strikeouts but hit three batters.
Reagan pitched two frames on no-hit ball, and McKinney took the mound for the second time on the day and allowed no runs on two hits in 2 2-3 innings.
Conner Netherland came on in the fourth for the Tigers in relief of Ard and earned the pitching win with 2 1-3 innings. Ross picked up the save, working the final 1 2-3 innings.
Troup 403 000 0 — 7 9 1 Hughes Springs 003 200 1 — 6 13 2 Jones Ard, Conner Netherland (4), Weslee Ross (6) and Jaden Lewis. Alex Bruce, Harrison Reagan (3), Riley McKinney (5) and Bo McEntire. WP-Netherland. LP-Bruce.
GAME 2 TROUP 6, HUGHES SPRINGS 0
Josh Parker scattered five Hughes Springs hits in seven innings, throwing 89 pitches. He struck out four and walked three.
McKinney absorbed the pitching loss. He worked 4 1-3 innings, giving up five hits and five runs—four earned—fanned three and walked one. He threw 65 pitches in the early game and finished with 102 on the day.
The Tigers took the early advantage in Game 2. Ross beat out a slow-roller to third for an infield single to start the bottom of the first, and Howell's bunt popup landed safely between the mound and the second baseman for another infield hit.
A sacrifice moved the runners up, and Ard singled to center to make it 1-0. Nelson's sacrifice fly to left gave Troup a 2-0 lead.
McKinney retired the next seven batters in a row before a leadoff single in the fourth by Ard, but the Mustangs stranded a runner at second to end the inning.
In the fifth, the Tigers chased the Hughes Springs starter and pushed home four more on an error and singles by Howell, Whitsell and Wood, the latter two driving in runs. Another run scored on a wild pitch, and Ross suicide squeezed in a run.
The Mustangs stranded seven on base, four in scoring position.
Hughes Springs 000 000 0 — 0 5 1 Troup 200 040 x — 6 7 2 Riley McKinney, Cooper Perry (5) and Bo McEntire. Josh Parker and Jaden Lewis. WP-Parker. LP-McKinney.